MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. The Vega Group (part of the Ruselectronics Holding within the state tech corporation Rostec) and the Beriev Aircraft Company (part of Rostec’s United Aircraft Corporation) delivered an upgraded A-50U long-range air surveillance/control aircraft to Russia’s Aerospace Forces, the Rostec press office reported on Wednesday.
"The plane has been modernized under the large-scale renewal program of the long-range air surveillance aircraft fleet as stipulated by the defense procurement plan. The plane can detect fundamentally new types of aircraft and simultaneously it can track a greater number of targets and guide a larger number of fighters towards the targets than the previous modification," the press office said in a statement.
The upgraded ‘flying radar’ is equipped with new systems, Rostec stressed.
"The modernized A-50U has received new, better performing and faster electronics, which has boosted its software functional capabilities. The aircraft is also furnished with a navigation instrumentation system. Lighter modern equipment has increased the plane’s operational range and the time of accomplishing combat tasks at a designated frontier," the statement says.
Work on upgrading the A-50 air surveillance aircraft to the A-50U’s level continues, Vega Group CEO Vyacheslav Mikheyev said.
"We are continuing work on upgrading the operational A-50 aircraft to the A-50U level. This is already the seventh airborne platform delivered to the troops. We are planning to deliver the next plane in 2023," the Rostec press office quoted the chief executive as saying.
The A-50U is designated to detect, track and identify aerial, large ground, and naval targets, transmit the relevant data to command posts, guide fighters to aerial targets, and frontline combat aircraft to ground and naval targets.