Russian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

The problem isn't the airplane. The Russians manufactured six Il-76MD-90A just last year and production is still ramping up. The problem is they only started the flight tests with the complete A-100 prototype in 2022. It probably has issues with either the radar or the on board electronics handling the radar signal and the operator consoles. The A-50U uses electronics technology that is like a decade older.
I doubt sanctions are an issue since the A-100 prototype flew in 2022. This is much after Western sanctions on sales of military equipment and components to Russia in 2014. If it uses imported electronics they will be of the common off the shelf (COTS) type and hard to sanction.

Santamaria said:

Both A50, A50U and A100 use the “platform” of the Il-76. They just differ in the radar.

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They are not the same platforms and engines. engines are modified for A100 from regular IL-76MD90.
I have read they have to enhance protection of crew in A100 due to radiation.
only the A50U deliver in 2023 can deal with drones and cruise missiles effectively. All the rest need upgrades. It is not out of question that after this Ukraine experience further modification to A100.

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In 2017, a special modification of the PS-90A-76 engine was created and installed on the newest multifunctional radar surveillance and guidance aircraft complex A-100.

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The PS-90A-76 is the exact same engine used in the Il-76MD-90A. The A-100 uses an Il-76MD-90A airframe that is customized later at Beriev to turn it into an AEW&C platform.

It says special modification so how you know its exact engine?.

At best they might have modified it to add more electric power generation to the engine to operate the radar.
But the engine core should be the same.

A100 has over 20 tons of equipment and transport plane dont have same long duration requirement. The Antenna is supposed to have size of 10.5m vs 9m of original A-50. there are EW pods on wings of A100 and alot of antennas.

They modified engine for Tu-204SM much smaller project and later those changes made to other PS90 engines. This increase in reliability and thrust allow to built 150 Tu-214.

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Before us is the very first, old modification of the engine - PS-90A, I thought that they had already been taken out of service. In the more modified and reliable PS-90A2 engine, the combustion chamber is covered with a heat-protective coating, and the turbine is a single crystal. On the PS-90A engine, the combustion chamber is not annular. There are single combustion chamber blocks with a common mixer.

Currently, Perm specialists have created a modified universal design PS-90A, which can be installed on all our vehicles.

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Tu-160M engines are upgraded so they expect greater range and weopons. once engines are upgrade than as a rule Russian aircraft physical capabilities will increase.

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The Tu-160M is most likely superior to the Tu-160 in everything, especially in the number of cruise missiles. I will assume that the Tu-160M is capable of carrying up to 24 cruise missiles in drum or revolver type launchers. These are Kh-555, Kh-101, Kh-15, and Kh-55,” said Matviychuk.

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The Tu-204SM used PS-90A2 engines which got upgraded by adding lots of Western parts to them. Those kinds of engines cannot be used anymore under conditions of sanctions. I am sure reliability of the PS-90A series of engines is better than it used to be originally, but it's unknown by how much really.

The Tu-160M uses NK-32-02 engines which are being made at Kuznetsov's brand new facilities. So they are probably way more reliable than the original engines.

They replaced the parts back in 2014. now with increase confidence in higher production volumes more modern Tu-214 version will be produced. some thing equal to PS-90A3

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As a pilot having such a vast experience, what can you say about Tu-204SM?

- First of all, despite the fact that Tu-204SM is no different from Tu-204 in terms of appearance, it is fitted with new equipment. There is not a single system without modifications. The core, hot-section and panels of PS-90A2 engines have been upgraded. In fact, this is not a PS-90A-based engine anymore. It is also fitted with new APU. All the innovations in this jet are focused on increase of service life. The maintenance costs have been decreased due to increase of time between overhauls and reliability of its systems. So the primary objectives of the upgrade were: increase of reliability, improvement of operating performance, comfort and flight safety (both active and passive).

I remind you that 90% of the jet’s components are manufactured in Russia. So this matter is of great importance for all the parties taking part in the project.

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Footage of a Russian search and rescue team taking off on a Mi-8 helicopter. The helicopter is accompanied by two helicopters, Mi-28 and Ka-52. The specialized air search unit consists of a fire support team and a medical worker. The medic helps in rescue operations, he also monitors the situation, assists in evacuation and provides first aid to pilots in case of emergency situations. Also on the channel you can watch videos of Russian pilots training on survival in enemy territory

Impacts of RBK-500 SHOAB-0.5 cluster bombs in Ukraine. Footage of Russian Su-34 aircraft using RBK-500 SHOAB-0.5 cluster bombs in Ukraine. A cluster bomb was used southeast of Malaya Tokmachka in the Zaporozhye region. The aircraft bomb has a special fairing that improves its aerodynamic characteristics. The Russian RBK-500 SHOAB-0.5 aerial bomb was put into service in 1969 and is equipped with 570 SHOAB-0.5 ball fragmentation ammunition, weighing 417 grams each. Each Shoab-0.5 ammunition contains 304 steel balls with a diameter of 5.5 mm, that is, the explosion creates a cloud of 154 thousand steel balls; one Shoab-0.5 ammunition can be compared to a hand grenade. The RBK-500 SHOAB-0.5 cluster avionics bomb is used from altitudes from 500 to 20,000 meters, at flight speeds from 700 to 2300 km/h. The minimum opening height of the cassette is 300 meters, the optimal height is 300-400 meters. The affected area depends on the altitude of the bomb; when striking from a height of 1000 meters, the area of continuous destruction is up to 600 meters.