It was not a fighter in the strict sense of the word, but it largely determined the future of the Russian army. Moscow lost an A-100LL “flying laboratory” on Tuesday in a drone attack by the Ukrainian army on the Taganrog air base, in the Rostov region.
Confirmed by the Ukrainian General Staff and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the operation required Bars long-range unidirectional drones and Neptune cruise missiles to hit military sites located more than 100 km from the front.
The second test aircraft was damaged
Satellite images of the impact of the attack, shared on Ukrainian channels on the Telegram platform, revealed the extent of the damage. We can see two plane wrecks reduced to smoke next to the military hangar.
Of the two, the destruction of the A-100LL test aircraft has been confirmed. This aircraft was used to test future advanced A-100 aerial command and surveillance aircraft technology. He fulfills an “important role” for Russia, according to Ukrainian news agency RBC Ukraine.
Used exclusively for technology development, the A-100LL, whose first flight took place on 26 October 2016, is a test platform for Russia’s A-100 project, intended to replace the Soviet-era A-50 AWACS aircraft.
Designed by the Beriev aviation company, which specializes in airborne surveillance and control aircraft, the A-100LL is regularly stationed at the Taganrog air base, a key location used by defense companies. Enough to make him Ukraine’s target of choice. In this attack, Kyiv also caused damage to another smaller experimental aircraft, the A-60.
