The ASC 890 Airborne Surveillance and Control aircraft, which is part of the latest package of military aid to Ukraine announced by Sweden, will allow the defense forces to detect enemy missiles, warplanes, and radars.
That’s according to Ilya Yevlash, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, Ukrinform reports.
“This aircraft is unique in its kind… It is a kind of AWACS – a flying radar that helps to ‘illuminate’ and detect targets. The Russians have such an aircraft, we have already destroyed two of them – the A-50 early warning planes. Now such a plane will come into service with our Air Force,” Yevlash said.
According to the spokesman, the ASC 890 aircraft will allow Ukraine to detect targets such as Shahed drones, missiles, and warplanes at longer ranges. “In addition, this aircraft can locate, for example, enemy radars, detect its coordinates, which, of course, will help our systems and aircraft in the future, including the F-16s, which will become a powerful reinforcement, to identify targets from a safe range and putting them into a spotlight for our Defense Forces,” the spokesman said.
As for the number of such capabilities Ukraine may receive, the spokesman noted that official reports say it is about one such plane at the moment.
“We can’t know for sure, but from open sources, even if we read Sweden’s statement, they talk about one such plane… Maybe now there will be one, maybe in the future partners will provide us with more such planes. Of course, they are needed a lot,” emphasized the spokesperson.
As reported, the Swedish government will provide Ukraine with another military aid package worth SEK 13.3 billion (EUR 1.16 billion), which includes the ASC 890 advanced Airborne Surveillance and Control aircraft.
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