This is how Russia lost Putin’s superplane

Russia has not denied Ukraine’s alleged downing of the A-50 spy plane.

According to one analyst, it may have been tricked into an advanced and risky Ukrainian trap.

The loss is now forcing the Russians to rethink, the British government says.

The Soviet-built A-50 radar reconnaissance plane costs more than three billion kroner and is easily recognizable by the rotating dome mounted on the roof.

The plane’s advanced systems have a range of 40 miles and can track more than 100 targets simultaneously.

On Monday, Ukraine’s army chief Valery Zaluzhny stated that the country’s air force managed to shoot down a Russian A-50 late on Sunday.

He also said that an Il-22 combat control plane was destroyed in the same attack, but according to later reports it may have landed with damage at a Russian airfield.

The Kremlin does not deny

Russia’s government has so far ducked all questions. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied that there is “no information” about downed planes. He referred to the Ministry of Defense, which has not commented on the data.

Meanwhile, war bloggers linked to the Kremlin spread a version that the plane may have been accidentally hit by Russian fire, writes Newsweek.

British Ministry of Defence stated on Tuesday in its daily report that the A-50 plane “almost certainly exploded” and then crashed into the sea. The loss is described by the British as “significant”.

“It is likely that Russia will now be forced to rethink and limit the operational areas of its aircraft. The A-50 is crucial for Russia’s aerial surveillance of the battlefield,” the department writes.

The theory: That’s how it happened

Ukraine has not released any details about how the plane was shot down, but the army chief described the attack as “excellently planned and executed”.

However, the American military analyst Tom Cooper – who has written several books about Soviet and Russian war plans – launches a theory. According to Cooper, Ukrainian radar and missile forces rigged an advanced multi-stage trap.

It began already on Saturday when Ukrainian warplanes bombed Russian targets on the occupied Crimean peninsula.

“A number of radar installations were knocked out,” writes Cooper in the analysis which reproduced by Forbes.

“Logical and stupid”

Without radar, the Russian missile systems in Crimea became blind, especially to the north.

That, according to Tom Cooper, led the Russian commanders to make a decision that was “equally logical and stupid”: They ordered one of the few remaining A-50 planes to compensate for the radar failure.

Normally, the plane scouts further south over the Sea of ​​Azov, but now it was sent north and ended up within range of Ukraine’s missiles, writes Forbes.

The A-50 was joined by an Il-22 that assisted with communications and data transfer. According to Forbes, satellite images and radar tracks show that the A-50 flew over occupied Berdyansk in southern Ukraine, just over twelve miles from the front. That put it within range of anti-aircraft robots from an American Patriot system that is said to have been stationed in the area.

“More than risky surgery”

Until now, the three Patriots that Ukraine received from the West were supposed to be located in major cities to shoot down Russian missiles. That at least one of them may now have been sent to the front is described as a daring move.

“It is a more than risky operation, says Oleg Katkov, editor-in-chief of the magazine Defense Express, to German Deutsche Welle.

According to Tom Cooper, both the S-300 air defense system and a Patriot battery were used in the operation. The former, out of range of the Russian planes, turned on its radar to track them. Then the missiles were fired from a Patriot system closer to the coast.

“Just a few seconds”

According to Forbes, there is also information that a Russian fighter plane reported the discovery of a Ukrainian S-300 that was activated just before the A-50 was shot down.

“It was struck in just a few seconds. Long enough to get their own target data, but too short for the Russians to detect the tracks and see them as a threat,” writes Cooper.

The theory that the Patriot was used in the attack is shared by researcher Valery Romanenko of the National Aviation University of Ukraine.

– Since the targets are said to have been hit over the Sea of ​​Azov, just off the coast, only Patriot missiles would have the range needed, he tells Deutsche Welle.