Russia may attempt to reactivate previously mothballed A-50 long-range airborne early warning and control aircraft.
This was reported by the UK Ministry of Defence.
According to intelligence, a week after losing the second A-50, Russia likely ceased their flights. This will continue until the terrorists conduct internal investigations into the inability to protect these aircraft, as well as how to reduce the threat posed by Ukrainian air defense.
"The loss of this capability providing daily command and control to Russian air operations highly likely significantly degrades the situational awareness provided to air crews. This is a capability gap Russia can ill afford over the contested airspace of eastern and southern Ukraine.," intelligence notes.
It is quite likely that the terrorist country will have to find ways to overcome this gap by reprofiling aircraft and taking on more risk to provide the effective air support needed by enemy ground forces.
"This is a prolonged issue that has almost certainly been exacerbated by the removal of A-50s supporting operations. Airframe and crew fatigue are almost certain to intensify once the A-50 does return to operations, with the fleet increasingly stretched," intelligence notes.
It is quite likely that the enemy will try to reactivate previously mothballed A-50s to mitigate the aforementioned problem.
