AWACS/Command post aircrafts of RuAF

MIL.PRESS FLOT
November 16, 2022 at 9:07 Subject: Navy

The source spoke about the support for communication between the command post of the Il-80 and strategic nuclear submarines


The Il-80 air command post, also known as the "doomsday aircraft", was tested to communicate with submarines through the water column. On Wednesday, November 16, RIA Novosti reported, citing an informed source.
"The Il-80 was tested for communication with strategic nuclear missile submarines that are submerged. The aircraft is able to maintain stable communication with the submarine through the water column," the agency's interlocutor said.


Image source; Modernweapon.ru

He clarified that communication between the aircraft and the submerged submarine is ensured by ultra-long waves, through an extended submersible communication antenna towed by the submarine.
Il-80 is a command post created on the basis of the Il-86 civil airliner. It is designed to control troops in a nuclear war, which will lead to the failure of ground control points, nodes and communication lines, therefore aircraft of this type in the West are called "doomsday aircraft".
According to open sources, there are four such aircraft in the Aerospace Forces. All of them made their first flight in 1985.

In 2015, Aleksey Komyakov, General Director of NPP Polet, spoke about the development of third-generation air command posts based on the Il-96-400M. Later, the general director of the United Instrument-Making Corporation, Alexander Yakunin, said that such aircraft would appear in Russia in 5-7 years.

In 2016, the United Instrument-Making Corporation announced that a draft design of a new command post had been created.

In July 2021, there were reports in the press about the production of the first command post based on the Il-96-400M.

https://flot.com/2022/%D0%92%D0%BC%D1%8425/

How to strengthen Russian air reconnaissance, by Evgeny Pozdnyakov for VZGLYAD. 07.03.2023.

Experts: Russia needs to strengthen its aerial reconnaissance not only qualitatively, but also quantitatively.

Sergei Shoigu announced the need to modernize the AWACS A-50 aircraft. This model has proven itself well in the NWO. However, the number of threats and challenges facing Russia requires not only a qualitative increase in this area, but also a quantitative one. How exactly could the domestic military-industrial complex solve this problem?

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, as part of a conference call with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces, said that A-50 early warning and control aircraft (AWACS) need to be modernized to improve the efficiency of solving problems. This was reported on the official website of the military department.

Shoigu noted that these systems are actively used within the framework of the NWO. He stressed that the Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex named after G. M. Beriev is engaged in the repair and modernization of this model under a state contract.

Recall that the A-50 is an AWACS aircraft created on the basis of the military transport Il-76. This model itself finds, identifies and accompanies air, ground and sea targets. He transmits all information about them to command posts, and also independently directs fighters and front-line aircraft to enemy targets.

According to open data, in its latest modifications, the A-50 can track up to 300 air targets, it sees an enemy bomber for 650 km, a cruise missile for 215 km. In addition, thanks to the improved radio-technical complex, the A-50U is able to detect even relatively small targets, such as drones.

The importance of these devices for SVR cannot be overestimated. It is also recognized by the enemy. In May, the Armed Forces of Ukraine planned to carry out a terrorist attack using a UAV at the Severny military airfield in the Ivanovo region. According to the FSB, the A-50s were the targets of the Ukrainian military.

And on February 26, at the Belarusian military airfield Machulishchi, saboteurs tried to undermine the A-50, reminds  Kommersant . Two drones were found at the scene. Later, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced the  arrest  of someone involved in the attempted sabotage. And on local television  they showed  a video with the A-50 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

In connection with these attacks, the AWACS models available to the RF Armed Forces are of paramount importance. In addition, gradually due to the actions of NATO countries outside Ukraine - primarily in Poland and the Baltic countries - the need for AWACS aircraft continues to grow. That is, according to experts, Russia needs not only to modernize the existing A-50s, but also to look for a simple and cheap alternative to them in the here and now mode.

Military expert Ilya Kramnik in his Telegram channel noted that the lack of specialized equipment can be overcome with the help of the An-12, having put the appropriate equipment on them. For example, the H035 Irbis radar "at the first stage is removed from the Su-35 fighters under repair." According to the expert, the number of models that undergo repairs is generally constant. Given the fighting and intensive flights, there are "not as few of them as we would like."

“In the future, it will be possible to ship several new ones. Information from the radar and cameras is fed to 4-6 operator workplaces, equipped in the cargo compartment. The output is something like Nimrod AEW in native aspens. As a fallback option, you can use the Tu-154, which the Air Force has enough in storage, but this option will become more expensive,” he argues.

“Thus, during the year the Russian Federation will receive about six aircraft with a loitering duration of about eight hours. In this case, the equipment complex will be sufficient to detect the overwhelming number of targets in the theater of operations. In two years, it will be possible to create about one and a half dozen such models,” the expert believes.

“After the start of the NMD, Russia's need for reconnaissance aircraft has increased significantly. This is dictated by simple reasons: the area of ​​necessary control has increased. An existential issue was the improvement of existing surveillance systems not only for Ukraine, but also for the Baltic countries and Poland,” said Vladimir Popov, retired major general, honored military pilot of the Russian Federation.

“Of course, ground stations do their job well, but monitoring the situation from flying command posts and location systems is much easier and faster. And here we are faced with the main problem: the available A-50s are critically few to perform such tasks," the expert emphasizes.

“In this regard, the question arises of increasing the number of our reconnaissance aircraft and their modernization. Technical approaches also need to be rethought.

Roughly speaking, it is possible to significantly reduce the size of the locators, thereby freeing up space for more electronics. It will also be possible to equip the aircraft with antenna systems, add not only a circular, but also a side view,” Popov emphasizes.

“In addition, it would be nice to integrate the existing systems into a single air defense structure, combine them with air and sea components. As a result, we will get a well-coordinated version of airspace control, with which you can track dangers in all strategically important directions,” the source notes.

“In principle, such tasks are partially solved by the development of the Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex named after Georgy Beriev A-100. Nevertheless, modernization projects of this kind will bear fruit only in 3-4 years, and it is important for us to get the result now,” the expert believes.

“In my opinion, the use of the An-12 with the placement of side-scan radar is a pretty good idea. This is a reliable model that will allow closing the gap in the intelligence sphere. By and large, many transport aircraft can be adapted for the use of radar systems,” the interlocutor emphasizes.

“Nevertheless, such decisions should be considered only as temporary. Russia needs to create a reliable unified intelligence system, within the framework of which the modernized A-50 and A-100 are indispensable,” Popov sums up.

https://vz.ru/society/2023/7/3/1219426.html

Although not an AWACS/AEW aircraft I would think a far more pressing need would be to to get several more Tu-214R's into service. They also have a couple of jobless Tu-214ON's around that could be far more useful as Tu214R's or even AEW aircraft. Radar equipped blimps could also work well but they could be very vulnerable to small plastic drones laden with explosives.

More attention should also be given to dedicated ECM aircraft that can replace the ancient An-12PP and the Il-22PP's of which too few are available. Something that can also have some nasty effect on snooping satellites. Not knocking them out but just enough white noise and blurry images would be good

Mir wrote:Although not an AWACS/AEW aircraft I would think a far more pressing need would be to to get several more Tu-214R's into service. They also have a couple of jobless Tu-214ON's around that could be far more useful as Tu214R's or even AEW aircraft. Radar equipped blimps could also work well but they could be very vulnerable to small plastic drones laden with explosives.

More attention should also be given to dedicated ECM aircraft that can replace the ancient An-12PP and the Il-22PP's of which too few are available. Something that can also have some nasty effect on snooping satellites. Not knocking them out but just enough white noise and blurry images would be good

The An-12PP have already been replaced by the Il-22PP, it is clear that this is transitory.
As for the Il-20M and IL-22M, they are supposed to be gradually replaced by Tu-214R, Tu-214PU and others, but the program was stopped some years ago, I think now it will be retaken

AMCXXL wrote:The An-12PP have already been replaced by the Il-22PP, it is clear that this is transitory.
As for the Il-20M and IL-22M, they are supposed to be gradually replaced by Tu-214R, Tu-214PU and others, but the program was stopped some years ago, I think now it will be retaken

Any An-12 still airworthy is to be used only for its intended use (tactical transportation).

It would be a different issue If they were still in production, but I believe they would also not be ideal in that role (adapted as AWACS).
The Tu-214 is the best opportunity now, either with new production now, or with used ex airliner once they will be replaced by MC-21 after 2030 (before that the number of MC-21 will not be sufficient to replace the new built tupulev

franco wrote:

He emphasized that another such aircraft was recently handed over to the fighters. In addition, it is planned to complete the modernization of another such complex in the near future.

This is the 8th modernized A-50U (perhaps Nº50 RF-50601), after Nº 33, 37, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47

Then there are another A-50 pending modernization, the 9th to complete the squadron (probably Nº51 RF.50606)

The Nº52 was transformed in a A-100LL (flight laboratory for Beriev testing)

After that the next shoud be start the delivery of A-100 for a second AWACS squadron

Also is needed replacement for Il-20M and Il-22´s, probably more Il-214

Hole wrote:There are still some A-50s in service. Maybe they should start modernizing them. Could be enough for half a squadron.
When the A-100s are being delivered they could bring the squadron up to strength first.
In the end a third squadron wouldn´t hurt.

There are no more A-50s in service, the rest of the Soviet heritage has been in storage for 20 years or was simply scrapped.
There is only one squadron with 9 AWACS aircraft, which are part of the 610th Training Center in Ivanovo, along with an Il-76 training squadron and another squadron with Il-20, Il-22. An-26 and Mi-8

Here are several old and decrepit A-50 stored in Ivanovo
https://www.google.es/maps/place/Iv%C3%A1novo,+%C3%93blast+de+Iv%C3%A1novo,+Rusia/@57.0575557,40.9948159,106m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x414d1423afe9a7c3:0xe25ab9c4547ae2e!8m2!3d57.0050671!4d40.9766453!16zL20vMDNxX2tx?entry=ttu

If the fleet is expanded, it is most likely that there will be a separate AWACS regiment with two squadrons of A-100/A-50U and the third squadron of IL-20-22 or their substitutes as Tu-214

George1 wrote:

so there are 7 (the biggest number) A-50s for modernization.

I highly doubt it, that thing that is left aside in a corner of Ivanovo looks like junk, it has probably been cannibalized, the next thing to arrive will be the A-100, whose prototype is currently participating in the Special Military Operation.

https://t.me/uac_ru/1688

video with the last A.50U

it is the Nº50 (RF-50601) despite in the video is hided, then the next will be Nº51

There are comments from potential trolls on TG that Awacs like the A50 are difficult to replace. How true is this?

Russia needs to streamline production for these types of aircrafts to make them cheaper to produce, and if possible, mount similar systems to unmanned UAVs

Complementary platforms should be:
Tu-214
+ Additional tanks with a range of 10,000km and an operation time of 8h
+ Air refueling
+ one unit per year from 2027
+ from 2028 two units

The IL-76 production is completely needed for logistics.

To churn out Helios RLD like cakes is the actual solution, we will see how long does it take until we have some official news about such a platform being developed

sepheronx wrote:Maybe unmanned blimps that fly around and communicate with ground stations around the borders or nearby may be ideal for long term.  Cheaper and still effective.

sounds very likely to me. Like drones are replacing attack aircrafts already. Same for sea-borne AEW in the future.

https://aviation21.ru/s-chemezov-neobxodimo-vosstanovit-vypusk-samolyotov-drlo-a-50/

S. Chemezov: it is necessary to restore the production of A-50 AWACS aircraft
02/29/2024, 19:00

The resumption of production of the A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft (AWACS) is necessary, since they are necessary for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and have high export potential. General Director of the Rostec State Corporation Sergei Chemezov said this on the sidelines before the annual address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly, which took place on February 29 in Gostiny Dvor.

“Of course, this plane needs to be restored. Of course, we will make it, it is needed not only for our army, but also for export,”leadsTASS response from the head of Rostec to a journalist’s question about plans to resume production of the A-50.

The A-50/A-50U aircraft are used for detecting, tracking and identifying air, ground and surface targets, transmitting data to command centers, as well as for targeting fighters and front-line aircraft to target targets.

All A-50 combat aircraft are part of the air group of the 610th Center for Combat Use and Retraining of Flight Personnel of the 4th State Center for Aviation Personnel Training and Military Testing. In total, as of January 1, 2024, the Aerospace Forces included 15 A-50M and A-50U aircraft.

A-50U are the “eyes” of the Aerospace Forces, this is an important component for the effective use of aircraft missiles, precision bombs, as well as Kalibr, Kh-101 and Kh-555 cruise missiles against air defense facilities, transport infrastructure and other military targets deep in the territory of Ukraine . A-50U are used both for preparing missile strikes and for assessing their effectiveness. It is also known that these aircraft are of key importance in the tasks of timely long-range interception of Ukrainian MiG-29 and Su-27 before they reach the limits of using AGM-88B HARM anti-radar missiles on the radars of Russian air defense systems.

The Shmel-M radar systems installed on A-50U aircraft detect Ukrainian fighters at a distance of up to 500 km, giving target designation to the crews of MiG-31BM interceptors, and Su-35 and Su-57 fighters. Largely thanks to AWACS aircraft, Ukrainian Su-27 and MiG-29 are shot down at a distance of up to 250 km by R-37M air-to-air missiles.

In 2003-2008, work began on modernizing the A-50, which resulted in the A-50U version. Currently, a new AWACS aircraft, the A-100 Premier, is being created, which uses the platform of the Il-76MD-90A aircraft and a modern radio engineering complex.