Britain says Russia is using early warning aircraft to “identify targets” in Ukraine

British intelligence services indicated on Friday that the Russian army had begun using “for the first time” an airborne early warning and control aircraft to “identify targets” in Ukraine, as part of its invasion of the country. They were launched in February 2022. Thus, they indicated that the Russian military would use its Beriev A-50 aircraft – known in NATO nomenclature as Mainstay – to identify targets that could be fired upon by its long-range missile systems. This would add to the agency’s main mission, which is “coordination between fighters.” “Compared to the SA-21’s ground-based radar, the Mainstay can use its radar to locate enemy aircraft at a greater range, as its height allows it to see peripherally beyond the curvature of the Earth,” they explained. The British Ministry of Defense, through its account on the social network, about the possibility of Ukraine deploying fighter aircraft provided by the West. British intelligence services concluded that “there is a realistic possibility that Russia will accept further risks by conducting overflights near the front line to effectively implement its new mission.”