The director of Ukraine's military intelligence agency has claimed that Kyiv downed a valuable Russian "Bumblebee" A-50 early warning and control aircraft over the Azov Sea on Sunday, in what would be a major blow for Moscow's airborne reconnaissance capabilities.

Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of the Defense Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence, told The War Zone on Monday that Ukrainian forces had destroyed an A-50 and damaged an Il-22M airborne command post. Newsweek is unable to independently verify the reports and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

The A-50—nicknamed the "Bumblebee" and given the NATO reporting name "Mainstay"—functions as an airborne warning and control system (AWACS). It is produced by manufacturer Beriev and entered service in the mid-1980s. Beriev's headquarters and production facilities are clustered near the city of Taganrog, on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov.

The upgraded version of the A-50—the A-50U—began entering service from 2011. The modernized version of the aircraft can monitor air targets out to a distance of some 400 miles and ground targets out to around 180 miles. Its equipment can track some 300 ground targets or 40 air targets simultaneously, per a report by The National Interest.

The AWACS aircraft can also coordinate up to 10 fighters in air-to-air interception or ground attack missions. It can stay in the air for extended periods, given its mid-air refueling capability. A-50s generally fly with a crew of 15 and the unit cost of the aircraft is reportedly more than $300 million.

Russia's air force was believed to have 15 A-50s before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, per figures from the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft database. One was reportedly badly damaged by a drone in February 2023, in an attack claimed by Belarusian anti-government partisans.

Losing one or both planes could prove problematic for Russia's battlefield operations.

"It's a severe loss for the Russians," Ivan Stupak—a former officer in the Security Service of Ukraine and now an adviser to the Ukrainian parliament's national security, defense and intelligence committee—told Newsweek.

Pavel Luzin, a Russian political analyst and visiting scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, told Newsweek that the loss would be notable given Moscow's thinning resources.

"Russia has some other aircraft of these types, but their amount is limited," he explained.

Russian authorities do not generally acknowledge battlefield losses. Several pro-war military bloggers, though, lamented the apparent downing of the A-50.

"The damaged Il-22 was able to reach the airfield and land, as evidenced by leaked intercepted conversations on an open frequency, but with the A-50, apparently, everything is much sadder," the Colonelcassad Telegram channel wrote.

The Military Informant channel said that if confirmed, it "will be a huge loss for domestic aviation, since there are only a few such AWACS aircraft in service and [they] are constantly in short supply at the front."

The Rybar channel posted an irate update about the incident, noting "joy" among Ukrainians.

"If such information is confirmed, it will be another dark day for the Russian Aerospace Forces and Air Defense," Rybar said. "There are not many A-50s. And the specialists on them are generally unique. If an aircraft of this type is hit, the crew will not be able to escape."

Also of concern, Rybar wrote, was that the advanced aircraft was seemingly unable to identify the threat to it.

"The option of 'friendly fire' from the Russian air defense is not at all theoretically possible," Rybar added, referring to claims among other milbloggers that an accidental shoot-down was responsible for the aircraft's demise.

1/16/2024 7:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Ivan Stupak and Pavel Luzin.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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