On the night of November 25, Ukrainian military forces struck a Russian airfield in Taganrog and shot down an A-60 aircraft, known as a laser weapon carrier and an experimental flying laboratory. There were only two such aircraft in the Russian Federation.
On the night of November 25, Ukrainian military forces struck a Russian airfield in Taganrog and shot down an A-60 aircraft, known as a laser weapon carrier and an experimental flying laboratory. There were only two such aircraft in the Russian Federation.
According to the Military, the target of the strike was the G. M. Beriev Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex, as well as the Taganrog-Yuzhny airfield. This is evidenced by eyewitness photos and videos.
The A-60 was created on the basis of the Il-76MD aircraft and was intended to study the propagation of laser beams in the upper atmosphere, and later to suppress enemy reconnaissance. It is an aviation version of the megawatt laser carrier, which was planned to be launched into space as the 17F19D «Skif-D».
Osinteri suggest that during the Ukrainian attack, an A-60 with registration number RA-86879 was hit, and possibly completely destroyed. It had been parked in one place on the territory of the airfield in Taganrog for many years.
Last year, Defense Express reported that the Russians were unhappy with NATO reconnaissance drone flights over the Black Sea. One of the possible responses was the use of the A-60 flying laser system.
In addition to the unique Russian aircraft, the Defense Forces damaged an aircraft factory hangar in Taganrog, which is used for maintenance and modernization of Tu-95MS strategic bombers to the Tu-95MSM version. They can carry more Kh-101 cruise missiles, which the Russians use to strike Ukraine.
Last year, the Ukrainian military hit several valuable Russian A-50 aircraft, including at airports in Taganrog.
