Sanctions leave Russia unable to produce vital radar plane - Ukraine intel

Russia is unable to further produce vital A-50 radar aircraft due to a defense industry crippled by foreign sanctions, the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate said on Friday. 

Russia has 6 or 7 operational A-50s according to a UK Defense Ministry Tuesday intelligence update.

"There were about 10 different variants of such [A-50] planes in total," said Ukraine Defense Ministry intelligence representative Andriy Yusov in a national telethon. "Another thing is not how many there are, but the ability to produce them. As of today, the degraded industry of the Russian Federation is not capable of producing new aircraft with similar purposes."

Yusov said that foreign suppliers are reluctant to cooperate with Russia over the sanctions.

Reluctance to help Russian forces

Since the beginning of the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian defense industry has struggled with the lack of foreign electronics and materials.

According to the UK Defense Ministry, "The A-50 MAINSTAY is a Russian airborne early warning and control platform. Its role is to build a recognized air picture and to provide coordination to adjoining fighter aircraft."

Russian state media outlet TASS said on February 22 that the radar planes are based on the IL-76 transport aircraft, and the modernized version can detect missile launches from 800 km, ground and sea targets at 300 km and simultaneously track 300 objects.

A Russian A-50 may have suffered significant damage on February 26 during a drone attack on a Belarusian base.

Belarusian opposition groups "reported two explosions and damage to the front and middle sections of the A-50 MAINSTAY as well as the radar antenna."

While the UK couldn't corroborate the damage and the attacker's identity, "However, the loss of an A-50 MAINSTAY would be significant as it is critical to Russian air operations for providing an air battlespace picture," and would "further constraining Russian air operations."