The Beriev A-60 concept was roughly analogous to the U.S. Air Force’s Boeing NKC-135 Airborne Laser Lab and Boeing YAL-1, providing an airborne platform for the testing of directed energy laser weapons for use in the missile defence role. Meanwhile, the other aircraft shown to be destroyed in the Ukrainian attack is thought to be a one-of-a-kind testbed aircraft designated the A-100LL, the prototype for Russia’s new A-100 AEW jet. Though the jet has been mothballed for some time – with testing of the A-100 now transferred to the first, and currently only, production airframe – its destruction still represents a heavy blow, making the potential use of the aircraft for any trials, or even conversion to operational capability, completely out of the question.
Author: Kai Greet
Published at: 2025-11-25 21:59:10
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