Belarus Admits Rare Russian AWACS Plane Damaged In Drone Attack

Russia may have as few as nine of these technologically sophisticated advanced early warning radar planes. 

Putting even one of them out of commission while it was parked at a Belarussian military airfield helps degrade Russian capabilities for attacking Ukrainian forces. JL 

Thomas Newdick reports in The Drive:

Belarussian military dissidents releases a video showing one of its drones landing on the A-50’s radar dome. While officials in Belarus and Russia refuted dissidents’ claims that the A-50 was blown up, Lukashenko now admits that the attack resulted in at least a limited amount of damage to the aircraft. This may support claims that the jet was subsequently flown to Taganrog in Russia, to undergo repairs, as well as the apparent changes in appearance to the forward-fuselage satellite communications (SATCOM) dome.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has claimed that more than 20 people have been arrested following a drone attack on a Russian A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft at Machulishchy Air Base, Belarus, late last month. Lukashenko confirmed that an attack using a “small drone” did indeed take place but said the radar plane suffered only superficial damage.

“The security service of Ukraine, the leadership of the CIA, behind closed doors, are carrying out an operation against the Republic of Belarus,” Lukashenko said, according to the country’s official news agency, Belta. “A terrorist was trained,” he added, referring to one of those suspects now said to have been arrested.

 

As well as the claimed terrorist suspect, described as a dual Russian-Ukrainian national, other individuals said to have been accomplices are now in custody, according to Lukashenko.

BYPOL, an organization of Belarusian military dissidents opposed to the Lukashenko government, claimed to have used two drones to attack the A-50, damaging it in two critical places — its radome and its upper forward fuselage area — on February 26.

 

Subsequently, BYPOL released a video showing what it said was one of its drones landing on the A-50’s radar dome, followed by another video that showed a drone touching down on the forward fuselage. In both cases, the footage is inconclusive when it comes to confirming whether the claimed drone attack actually caused any damage to the radar plane. 

 

While officials in Belarus and Russia refuted the dissidents’ claims that the A-50 was blown up, Lukashenko now admits that the attack resulted in at least a limited amount of damage to the aircraft. This may support claims that the jet was subsequently flown to Taganrog in Russia, to undergo repairs, as well as the apparent changes in appearance to the forward-fuselage satellite communications (SATCOM) dome, which would seem to be consistent with this area having been repaired or its cowling swapped out.