Russian A-50U AWACS Aircraft Shot Down Over Sea of Azov, 2nd Since January

A Russian A-50U airborne early warning & Control (AWACS) aircraft was shot  down by a missile fired from a Patriot air defense system in the sky over the Sea of Azov on Friday evening.

The destruction of the plane was confirmed by the Commander of the Air Force of Ukraine, Mykola Oleschuk who commented on  it in a Telegram post.

Russia is yet to confirm or deny the incident. If true this will be the second A-50 being shot down since the beginning of 2024.

A video posted by residents in the Taganrog Bay area shows the aircraft release missile deflecting chaff for more than a minute before detonating and going into a free-fall.

Commenting on the video, the authoritative Telegram Channel, Russian weapons commented, “this fact suggests that the radiation warning system of the A-50U aircraft detected the illumination and guidance of the air defense missile system literally 1 second before the launch of the anti-aircraft missile, and precise auto-tracking with illumination was carried out throughout the entire flight path of the incoming missile.”

A-50U AWACS detected incoming missile

Commenting on type of missile and launcher, the report said, “it is obvious that an anti-aircraft missile was used with a semi-active radar seeker; In this case, we can talk about the MIM-104D anti-aircraft missile of the Patriot PAC-2 air defense system, launched from the Kurakhovo area.

The first Russian A-50U was brought down on January 15 in a similar situation over the Sea of Azov.

Russia is reported to have had some 12 A-50 AWACS planes in working condition before the beginning of the war with Ukraine in 2022.