Air Force Will Modernize AEW Fleet

In December Beriev Aircraft Company reported that the Russian Air Force cleared for service a modernized A-50U airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. The new modification has been developed by Beriev in cooperation with Radio Engineering Corporation Vega. The modernization efforts were focused on improvement of the avionics suite that received new hardware components. According to the designers, this allowed to reduce the weight of the onboard equipment and increase the endurance and range of the aircraft that can take more fuel now.
The new avionics also improved A-50U’s ability to detect low-altitude and stealth targets, reported the designers. Besides, the improved radar can now detect such new targets as helicopters and surface ships. Compared to the basic A-50, the new variant has better backlooking target detection capabilities. The aircraft also received satellite navigation system as well as the new cockpit where the obsolete analogue equipment has been replaced with LCD displays.
Beriev reported that the approval from the Air Force paves the way to modernization of the entire fleet of A-50AEW aircraft currently being in service. The designers also say that some technical solutions applied on A-50U variant can be used in future AEW aircraft being developed at the moment.