Russian media has just reported that, while in international airspace, a Russian IL-20M reconnaissance aircraft was approached by a US F-22 Raptor fighter.
The Russian IL-20M reconnaissance plane was approached by the American F-22 Raptor fighter (nicknamed the raptor) right in international airspace. Russian media denounced this as a dangerous provocation.
The Russian side denounced the lack of professionalism of the US fighter and said that the country’s IL-20M was still very far from the US airspace.
Meanwhile, the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) said that the IL-20M aircraft was entering their air defense identification zone, but the Russian side denied this.
Russian media have accused the US Air Force’s actions of being clearly provocative, which has only exacerbated the already difficult relationship between Washington and Moscow.
Previously, the US had denounced two cases of Russian aircraft violating their air defense identification zones and Canada, but the Russian side denied this.
IL-20M is a reconnaissance variant developed from the IL-18 family of aircraft, which was born in the 1950s.
This aircraft is famous for its durable performance, many of which can reach more than 45,000 flight hours.
The aircraft has a 16-member squadron including the crew and avionics that process the collected information. Il-20M has a length of 37.4m, a wingspan of 37.9m, a height of 10.1m.
In the empty 35 tons, the maximum take-off weight is up to 64 tons.
The aircraft is equipped with 4 AL-20M engines with a capacity of 5,240 horsepower, helping the aircraft to operate at a maximum speed of 675km / h. The flight range is up to 6,500km.
Currently, Russia is maintaining the operation of dozens of IL-20Ms for the role of reconnaissance and electronic suppression.
Shepherd’s answer to the Shepherdess, the IL-20 is the Russian equivalent to the American P-3 Orion which was the Soviet answer during the Cold War until today even more than ever would you say!