"Bird" for $330 million: what is known about the Russian plane destroyed in Belarus

“Bird” for $330 million: what is known about the Russian plane destroyed in Belarus

This plane arrived, stayed in Belarus for 54 days and made 12 sorties.

On Sunday, February 26, as a result of an explosion at the Belarusian airfield “Machulishchi”, one of the 9 AWACS of the Russian Aerospace Forces received serious damage .

According to the Belarus Gayun project, several significant facts are known about the destroyed Russian aircraft. This plane flew to Belarus on January 3, 2023 and stayed there for 54 days, making 12 sorties. Prior to that, the last time the aircraft flew to Belarus was on February 24, 2022.

The Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation have only 9 such aircraft, and only 6 of them have been improved (with modification “y”).

One such aircraft serves 19 people – 5 flight, 11 radio and 3 engineering and technical personnel. The cost of this is $ 330 million.

Explosions in Machulishchi

The Russian Federation is actively using the Machulishchi airfield for aggression against Ukraine. Russian MiG-31K fighter jets are stationed here, capable of carrying and launching Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. Regular take-offs of these aircraft are invariably accompanied by an announcement of an air raid alert throughout Ukraine until the plane lands. Takeoffs often occur simultaneously with the rise of the Russian A-50U early warning aircraft into the sky.

On Sunday, February 26, explosions were heard at this airfield, as reported by the media . They were informed about possible damage to a Russian military aircraft of an unknown model and snow removal equipment. Subsequently, it became known that AWACS A-50 was damaged.

(C)UNIAN 2023