Feature
On April 21, Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the Director General of Moscowbased Vega Group, Vladimir Verba, as saying the first flight of an A-100LL (Letayushchaya Laboratoriya) flying test bed with its Premier mission system switched on has taken place.
On October 26, 2016, the A-100LL flew for the first time, but without the radar antenna fitted above the fuselage. In the period since the first flight, the A-100LL flying testbed, converted from operational A-50 side number 52, underwent the outfitting of the mission systems. The A-100LL is designed to replace the A-50 and A-50U in service with the Russian Air and Space Force and is reportedly due to become operational in 2018.
