A plan to put the outdated A-50 Mainstay back into production reflects growing losses and major problems in the Russian aerospace industry.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/7336903

Speaking yesterday, Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russia’s Rostec state defense conglomerate, said that production of the A-50 would be restarted, according to a report from the state-run TASS news agency.

  • Hopfgeist@feddit.de
    0·
    8 months ago

    Saying it hasn’t been built in 30 years is a bit misleading. Although the base Il-76 airframes may be that old, the latest substantial avionics upgrade (designated A-50U) is less than 15 years old or so (first delivery in 2011), which isn’t too bad for military and aircraft systems. A lot of the E-3 equipment is older. That is not to say it is more capable than the E-3, it probably isn’t, but I’d say a fully functioning A-50U should not be underestimated. It’s even got toilets! Then again, it is also not clear to me that any “U” models are currently airworthy.