What shot down the A50? Forbes about the possibility of using the S-200

Forbes asks the billion-dollar question: how many 5B28 missiles does Ukraine have left?

After the defeat of the second Russian A-50, the authors of the publication inclined to believethat Ukraine really uses the S-200. Previously, we wrote that the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft from the Soviet long-range air defense system S-200. Ukrainian media reported this with reference to sources in the Main Intelligence Directorate. According to them, Ukraine has modernized the S-200 missiles for long-range strikes. It was previously stated that the upgraded S-200 missiles are used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to attack ground targets.

Ukraine, it seems, was indeed able to modernize the very old 5V28 missiles intended for firing from the S-200 complexes. This gave her the opportunity to reach Russian aircraft at distances where they are not threatened even by the American Patriot air defense system, Forbes writes.

The S-200 complex is considered obsolete – it was put into service in 1967, but it is the only Ukrainian system capable of hitting aircraft at a distance of 250 kilometers or more. Ukraine used redesigned S-200s for ground strikes, much like the Russians do with S-300 and S-400 missiles. However, air targets have never been shot down with such missiles before.

Ukraine decommissioned its S-200s back in 2013, sending the launchers and missiles to their warehouse. But even before the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian authorities were considering options for their renewal and modernization. Judging by the accuracy demonstrated by the missiles during ground strikes, the modernization did take place. The publication summarizes:

“Now the billion-dollar question: How many 5B28 missiles does Ukraine have left? The Ukrainian Air Force may have owned hundreds or even thousands of missiles when it retired the S-200 around 2013. But big, chemical-filled missiles don’t last forever. Perhaps the Ukrainians got “fresh batches of 5B28s from their allies who still operate the S-200. Poles, perhaps. Or even Bulgarians.”

We would like to remind you that, according to reports from the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, the Russian Aerospace Forces A-50U long-range radar detection aircraft shot down 23 February near the city of Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the Sea of ​​Azov. Five more Russian aircraft were withdrawn from combat missions after the crash. According to intelligence data, the A50U made its last takeoff that day at 15:50 from the Akhtubinsk airfield and was supposed to carry out missions near the settlements of Primorsko-Akhtarsk-Zernograd. Later, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported that the A-50 was shot down using a modernized missile fired at the Soviet S-200 air defense system. This is the second such aircraft shot down in 2024. On January 14, an A-50 was shot down over the Sea of ​​Azov and an Il-22M was damaged.

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