Why the Destruction of a Russian AWACS in Minsk is a Big Deal
The A-50 ‘Mainstay’ is a low-density, high-demand asset and one of Russia’s major advantages over Ukraine.
On Sunday, Telegram was abuzz with activity about an explosion at Machulishchy Air Base south of Minsk, in Belarus and several Russian military bloggers echoed each other about some sort of drone attack at the Minsk airbase.
Separately, a prominent pro-Kremlin channel, Tsargrad TV, confirmed a drone attack on the airbase and blamed it on the Ukrainian military.
Later that day, BYPOL, the Belarusian partisan group and anti-war organization, said it had used drones to strike a Russian Beriev A-50 (NATO reporting name “Mainstay”) airborne early warning and control aircraft (AWACS).
BYPOL consists of former law enforcement officers now opposed to the Belarusian president.
According to the Guardian, the aircraft was hit by munitions dropped by two drones. A second munition reportedly hit close to the cockpit. “The front and middle section of the aircraft was damaged, as well as avionics and a radar antenna.”
