15 JANUARY 2024
Ukraine’s Air Force reports, a Russian Il-22 air control centre probably survived the attack but cannot be restored.
Source: Colonel Yurii Ihnat, Ukraine’s Air Force spokesman, on Facebook
Quote: “It looks like the Il-22 made it to Anapa. Tenacious bastard.
But, as you can see, this tin can is “not subject to restoration”. So, after all, the target is destroyed; resuscitation will not help! The plane was on fire; there were wounded among the crew. I hope there was Cargo 200 (i.e. fatalities – ed.)!”
Details: The colonel illustrated his post with a photo that had previously appeared on social media.
PHOTO: YURII IHNAT ON FACEBOOK
As Ihnat explains, an A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft has been a priority target for Ukraine’s Armed Forces. And until now, the destruction of this aircraft seemed an impossible task for the Air Force. However, on the night of 14-15 January, the Defence Forces managed to hit an A-50 and an Il-22 (air command post).
“Two juicy targets at once! I am proud to serve in the Air Force of Ukraine’s Armed Forces!”, the officer adds.
Background:
- Reports appeared on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels on the evening of 14 January about the downing of a Russian A-50 reconnaissance aircraft and damage to an Il-22M, which was partially confirmed this morning by Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, and Ukrainska Pravda’s sources in the Ukrainian government.
- On the morning of 15 January, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed that the Ukrainian Air Force had downed two important Russian planes: an airborne early warning system (AWACS) aircraft and an airborne command centre.
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https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/01/15/7437317/
Clearly visible are the many holes caused by shrapnel … lots of shrapnel. This plane is old, the last one having been built in 1978, so I doubt that they have enough parts left over to get this thing airworthy again. Still, too bad it didn’t go down in flames.
That is a lot of holes. I wonder if an old Buk system was used to bring down this junk?
I don’t know. The Buk has a range of only 140 km.
And the Patriots are 160 km. I wonder if they got close enough or possibly Ukraine found a way to get a little farther like they did with the HIMARS? heh heh heh …
Ukrainian technicians surely keep tuning US hardware for better performance. 😎🇺🇦🇺🇸
Maybe they somehow increased their range?
Its just a hunch but I think its possible. I remember talk about mounting SAMs on the sea drones too. But we don’t have a foothold by the Azov yet. idk, just speculating like a bloviating arm chair general 😉
There are all sorts of ways the brilliant Ukrainians could’ve achieved those downing, A Frankenstein system as SOL suggested, or maybe another system that was made to fly a longer distance, or even a short-range missile on a sea drone.
Nothing a little bondo couldn’t fix! LOL