AWACS/Command post aircrafts of RuAF

Well so far we have seen lots of news related to Russian Aircrafts like PAKFA, Su-35BM and Su-34...

However somehow i didn't manage to find any news related to the fate of the A-50 Mainstay AEW or Russian AEW program in general , except the Sukhoi S-62 UAV AEW of course    

So how's the fate of the A-50's ?, and will they get upgrades on their RADAR's and their avionics in general  ?

That product 476 is the new upgrade of the Il-76 and is a complete upgrade of the aircraft, including new engines, new wing, new cockpit with reduced crew size, and significantly improved performance.

This is very good news, it seems they really are trying to replace all the older hardware with new stuff.


Sort of related, I always thought they should have continued development of the Yak-44, which was a smaller turboprop powered carrier based AEW aircraft.
I always thought that even without a carrier to operate it from it would be useful to have a smaller aircraft that could perhaps be exported, would be cheaper than a full size aircraft that could take on other roles. In Afghanistan for example when Soviet forces were there you could have used it for radio relay purposes in the steep mountains. I think it probably would have sold quite well too on the export market.

They updated all the electronics to digital with much more capable signal processing power.

Think of a radar system like the A-50 as being like a lighthouse. A new light source with a sharper brighter beam will increase effective range, but also trying to see the light from a lighthouse with the naked eye is one thing... using binoculars or even a telescope and being able to change the light frequency based on the current atmospheric conditions can extend the range to which it can be used.

The Mig-31 was a good case in point... the original had an enormous field of view compared to the radar in the F-14, though its max range was not as good. This was not an issue with the radar itself but a serious lack of processing power to analyse the radar returns from such a large volume of space. The new radar for the later model Mig-31s has a much better range with a radar antenna only slightly larger and also a PESA design like the original. The main improvement is the signals processing power and digital equipment behind the radar that greatly improves performance.

I quite agree with Austin here that delaying putting a new antenna on the aircraft till AESA module technology in Russia is mature and cheaper makes a lot of sense.
It is more important to make the current models all digital than to rush in a half a$$ed AESA model just because AESA is cool at the moment.

For the PVO the A-50 was a gap filler rather than an AWACS aircraft as used in NATO.
For NATO the AWACS aircraft is more like a mobile air defence radar network that it can take to conflicts as and where needed. Lots of people point to this and the wests inflight refuelling capability and suggest Russia needs that, but both are very expensive assets that are really only needed for offensive operations, so having all you WACS capability in an airbourne form is expensive and wasteful... unless you are planning conflict on 3-4 fronts at a time. For one or two conflicts then 16-20 AWACS are fine.

As mentioned above the concept of mini AWACS aircraft is a good one I think, and a few cheaper smaller aircraft with 360 degree radar view and the ability to manage defences is pretty good.

I remember reading somewhere that a capability they wanted for the A-50 was the ability to mark targets with radar so that Russian fighters could launch missiles without any emissions at all. The enemy will detect the AWACS aircraft passively but will have to turn its own radar on to detect any supporting fighters. The Russian fighters have target information from the A-50 on their displays without using their own radar, though it could show extra information with their IRSTs on of course.

Thanks everyone for replying

hmm well it's glad to know that these AEW's are being modernized, although yes as Vlad said , in signal processing and computer, which would means that most of the transmitter and receiver block from the old Shmel RADAR will be retained .

It should extend the range at which LO aircraft are detected.

Besides once the aircraft are upgraded to digital it becomes much simpler and easier to just replace the antenna when a new more capable system comes available.

BTW what is the operational ceiling of the Il-76?

That might limit max too.

I believe the radar is PESA for the upgrade.

A bit like AESA in that it is electronically scanned but cheaper and generates less heat and requires less power.

The KJ-2000 uses the same Russian aircraft as a platform, that is why they look similar as both use the Il-76 aircraft.

The replacement for the A-50M is being worked on right now and is called A-100.

It will likely have AESA radars, and we don't know what aircraft it will be based on or what form the radar will take. (ie saucer above the back of the aircraft like the A-50, or perhaps a lower drag body mounted side aerials and nose and tail radar.

It wouldn't surprise me if they had some very long side body mounted antenna of very low frequency for very long range detection and tracking and datalink transmissions.

Such a set up might even allow communication with submerged submarines.

coolieno99 wrote:Video of A-50M. The radome is fixed, non-rotating. In the dome are 3 phase-array antennas arranged in a triangular configuration. Beam-steering is done electronically. Radar technology is most likely AESA. The plane is very similiar to China's KJ-2000.

Wow.. what a surprise .

well however hopefully the uploader does not mistake it with Israeli's A-50U Upgrade which uses AESA .

nonetheless ..this Video really worth a Thanks

The old A-50 was just a gap filler to close gaps in the ground based air defence network.

The new doctrine of mobile forces suggests they will need to expand their AWACs forces so they can operate in lots of places at once.