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AFU Colonel Discloses What Weapons Used To Destroy Russian A-50s, Il-22s

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AFU Colonel Discloses What Weapons Used To Destroy Russian A-50s, Il-22s

The Ukrainian military conducted a unique operation.

Ukrainian defenders have successfully eliminated a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and an enemy Il-22 air control centre. It is likely that Patriot or SAMP/T SAMs could have been used in this operation.

This was reported by military expert, flight instructor and colonel of the AFU in reserve Roman Svitan in a commentary to the Channel 24.

As the expert noted, the occupation army has about a squadron of A-50 and Il-22 each, which is an average of 10-12 aircraft of each type.

"A-50 is a flying radar. There are up to 20 crew members there, if you count together with the pilots," the colonel noted.

According to Svitan, the Il-22 is a command post oriented mainly to control ground troops. The A-50, he stated, is a command post for airborne control.

"These are significant targets," he added.

Roman Svitan stressed that the A-50 rises into the airspace to an altitude of about 10 kilometres. In case there are missiles with sufficient range, it is potentially possible to intercept them. To ensure the safety of such missions, it is necessary to have at least one Su-35 in close escort, providing reliable coverage for all said air vehicles.

"If it's not in the information flow, it means the Sukhoi flew away. Didn't cover and escaped by itself. That's why Su-35 pilots will be writing long reports why they didn't fulfil the combat mission and didn't cover these 2 aircraft," Roman Svitan said.

He added that air defence systems such as Patriot or SAMP/T could be used to intercept the said aircraft.

In addition, according to the expert, F-16 fighters could also cope with this task. Ukrainian pilots are already prepared to deal with aerial targets.

The AFU shot down Russian A-50 and Il-22: what is known?

The information about damaging two air targets over the Sea of Azov came in the evening of January 14. One of them, the A-50 aircraft, instantly disappeared from radar.

The second, an Il-22 aircraft, managed to land at Anapa airport, as reported by Air Command spokesman Yuriy Ignat on January 15. AFU Commander-in-Chief General Valeriy Zaluzhny confirmed the strikes on Russian targets, providing monitoring data that showed the movement of the planes, followed by the disappearance of one of them at a certain moment.

The media calculated the cost of the strike on the An-50 and Il-22 of the Russian Armed Forces. Tentatively, the attack on Russian aircraft caused damage to the Russians worth more than half a billion dollars.

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