Ukraine destroys Russia’s unique Beriev A-60 airborne laser aircraft in Taganrog drone strike.

On November 25, 2025, Ukrainian strikes against the Taganrog Yuzhny Air Base triggered fires in the area where the sole remaining Beriev A-60 airborne laser aircraft had been stored. Imagery circulating after the attack shows a burning airframe with features consistent with the A-60, suggesting the unique platform may have been destroyed.

During the night of November 25, 2025, Ukrainian forces carried out coordinated strikes against Russian targets, including the Taganrog Yuzhny Air Base in Rostov Oblast, which experienced large fires following impacts in areas associated with aircraft repair and testing activities. Preliminary information circulating after the attack indicated that one of the rare Beriev A-60 airborne laser laboratory aircraft may have been struck on the ground, with early claims presenting this as the possible destruction of one of only two such prototypes ever produced.
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The laser system mounted on the A-60 destroyed at Taganrog could have been part of the 1LK222 Sokol-Eshelon program, which focused on defeating or impairing the optical sensors of reconnaissance satellites rather than destroying them physically. (Picture source: X/Anton Gerashchenko and RussianPlanes/Alexander Nikolaev)

Footage released following the attack displayed multiple explosions across Taganrog, with observers noting flames erupting near industrial zones and apron areas connected to the Taganrog complex, where A-50 airborne early warning aircraft are normally serviced, and where the unique A-60 experimental aircraft have been parked for years. In one short clip, the sound of a jet engine could be faintly heard moments before impact, suggesting that cruise missiles (maybe the Neptune or the Long Neptune) may have been used during the strike in addition to drones, although this remains unconfirmed and cannot be established beyond the presence of that audio signature. Some images showed a burning aircraft silhouette with a distinct dorsal hump, interpreted by several observers as resembling the top structure of an A-60 laser turret housing, as this aircraft was positioned close to facilities where the Beriev design bureau conducts ongoing work. During the same period, Taganrog authorities announced damage to two industrial enterprises, two multi-story buildings, a private house, and a mechanical college, indicating a wide pattern of impacts throughout the city.

Geolocation efforts identified the primary impact area at approximately 47.198203 north and 38.863344 east, corresponding to an area inside the Taganrog Yuzhny Air Base used to gather, maintain, and overhaul A-50 airborne early warning aircraft. This airfield serves as the main testing and operational center for Beriev aviation projects, making it a location where long-term storage and work on several high-value aircraft, such as the A-50 and A-60, have traditionally taken place. The base has already been a target in previous attacks, including an event on March 1, 2022, when a Tochka-U missile launched by Ukrainian forces was intercepted by a Pantsir-S1 system while aimed at the same airfield, with debris falling in a nearby park. The long-term concentration of rare aircraft, research platforms, and special-mission prototypes explains why this site has remained a recurring strategic target for Ukraine since then.

The Beriev company, officially named Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex named after G. M. Beriev, was founded in 1934 and has grown into a major aviation facility responsible for producing, upgrading, and repairing amphibious and special-purpose aircraft. Its activities include the modernization of A-50 airborne early warning aircraft and the maintenance of Tu-95MS strategic bombers, making it a unique, strategically important site without any direct equivalent or alternative elsewhere in Russia. The complex operates both the Taganrog Yuzhny airfield and an additional hydroplane testing site located in Gelendzhik Bay, supporting a wide range of research and flight development tasks. After the beginning of the current conflict, the enterprise came under sanctions from the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions, affecting its broader industrial environment. Local incidents have also occurred over the years, including a fatal case of suspected thallium poisoning involving a worker in 2017.

An airborne laser, such as the Beriev A-60 stationed at Taganrog, is an aviation platform equipped with a high-energy laser weapon system designed to investigate or apply intense directed beams within the atmosphere or toward airborne and orbital targets. Such systems require substantial electrical power, thermal management solutions, and stabilized optical assemblies to deliver a concentrated beam capable of illuminating or disabling sensors, depending on power output. To maintain a precise beam control across long distances, an airborne laser system typically includes large turbogenerators, retractable optical heads, and systems to counteract atmospheric turbulence and keep beam coherence. Among these very unique aircraft, the A-60 is one of the earliest attempts to integrate a megawatt-class laser into an aircraft for the purpose of studying beam propagation in the upper atmosphere and exploring methods to impair reconnaissance satellites. In total, only three airborne laser systems were created, including the A-60 and two similar programs in the U.S., including the Boeing YAL-1, a modified Boeing 747-400F scrapped in 2014, and a modified NKC-135A currently kept in storage, but such platforms remain extraordinarily rare, costly, and technically complex due to the energy demands and sensitivity of their specialized optics.

Satellite imagery later shared by the Telegram channel Dnipro Official shows the aftermath of the strike against the Beriev Aviation and Scientific Complex Facility, confirming the destruction of the Beriev A-60 and one Il-76 heavy transport aircraft, while the factory’s final assembly shop sustained significant structural damage. (Picture source: Dnipro Official)

The A-60 program originated in the 1970s when Soviet authorities instructed the Beriev design bureau and the Georgiy Dimitrov machine-building plant to create a special airborne laser system capable of addressing several key defense-related technological challenges. Work began on a flying laboratory designated 1A in 1977, incorporating cooperation with the Almaz design center, which traditionally handled air and missile defense systems. The first A-60 aircraft made its maiden flight on August 19, 1981, followed by the second prototype, designated 1A2, on August 29, 1991, which integrated improvements based on earlier trials. Only two prototypes were constructed, with one believed to have been destroyed in a fire at Chkalovskaya Air Base in 1989, leaving the second aircraft as the basis for later modifications and storage at Taganrog. Over time, this platform became associated with research into atmospheric laser propagation and potential anti-satellite applications, connecting it to long-term development lines within Soviet and Russian experimental aviation.

To accommodate the laser system, an Ilyushin Il-76MD airframe underwent extensive changes that significantly altered both its appearance and internal layout. The standard nose radome, which included a weather radar, was replaced by a bulbous fairing containing targeting and beam-directing equipment, while the upper fuselage section between the wings and vertical tail was cut open and replaced with large multi-segment doors concealing a retractable turret that housed the main laser optics. Along the sides of the fuselage, external pods were added to contain turbogenerators that provided the electrical supply required by the laser and its associated systems. The cargo doors were removed, and the opening was sealed, although the ramp remained as a structural element of the airframe. Additional power systems similar to those on the now-scrapped Il-76PP electronic warfare aircraft were installed in the forward section, and aerodynamic considerations guided the decision to make the laser turret retractable so it would not impede flight performance when not needed for experiments.

As expected, the Beriev A-60 maintained the main characteristics of the Il-76MD transport aircraft, featuring a wingspan of 50.50 meters, a length of 46.86 meters, a height of 14.76 meters, and a wing area of 300 square meters. According to available information, the empty weight of the A-60 is around 92,000 kilograms, and its maximum takeoff weight is approximately 179,000 kilograms. Propulsion is provided by four D-30KP series 2 turbofan engines, each producing about 12,000 kilogram-force of thrust, enabling the aircraft to reach a maximum speed of about 850 km/h, cruise near 700 km/h, and operate across a practical range of roughly 8,200 km with a ceiling close to 13,800 meters. The aircraft typically carried a crew of four flight members and up to ten operators who managed the laser, measurement devices, stabilization systems, and associated equipment throughout the flight and testing cycles.

The high-energy laser assembly of the A-60 is apparently linked to gas-dynamic CO₂-based systems with designed outputs approaching the megawatt scale, though this part of the program is evidently surrounded by secrecy. However, it is known that the testing of this laser included experiments involving ground targets, tests against airborne platforms such as La-17 drones, and attempts to assess laser behavior through atmospheric layers under varying conditions. One of the most notable achievements was the illumination of a satellite at an altitude of about 1,000 km, confirming that this weapon could reach orbital trajectories and interact with spaceborne sensors. Development stages also focused on laser stabilization, optical correction methods, and energy management techniques designed to ensure consistent beam quality during extended operations. Reports indicate that work on the second prototype continued across the 1990s and 2000s, including periods of modernization aimed at improving vibration control, precision tracking, and optical system reliability. The aircraft spent many years positioned at Taganrog Yuzhny, reflecting the extreme scarcity of specialized facilities capable of handling such a unique platform.

Notably, the laser system associated with the A-60 that seems to have been destroyed at Taganrog apparently evolved into the 1LK222, a configuration linked to the Sokol-Eshelon program, which focused on defeating or impairing the optical sensors of reconnaissance satellites rather than destroying them physically. Earlier Soviet concepts related to megawatt-class gas-dynamic lasers were integrated into this secret experiment, contributing to extended research on directed energy effects against orbital assets. The A-60 continued serving as the airborne test platform for these experiments, supporting attempts to characterize how atmospheric turbulence and beam dispersion could be compensated at long distances. The program, reported to be active to this day, included activities intended to evaluate illumination of orbital targets and the potential operational utility of airborne laser systems for strategic counter-reconnaissance roles. Therefore, the weapon developed for the Sokol-Eshelon program might also be lost, as it used this modified Il-76MD as its primary carrier.

Moreover, estimating the financial cost of the strike on the A-60 is difficult, but we could estimate it by combining known values for Il-76 airframes with the known financial information related to these airborne laser programs. A 2017 figure placed the price of a new Il-76MD-90A at about 5 billion rubles, which corresponds to more than $63 million using 2025 conversion values, while large-scale conversion projects producing AWACS-type aircraft reached roughly $120 million per unit. When adjustments are made for turbogenerators, atmospheric correction optics, retractable laser turrets, and decades of engineering and testing, the estimated value of an A-60 falls within a wide band between $150 million and $480 million. If the aircraft involved in the Taganrog strike is confirmed to be the one integrated into Sokol-Eshelon testing, the total valuation could lean toward the upper part of this range due to unique system components and the role of the aircraft for such secret, long-term military programs, as the A-60 cannot be replaced quickly.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.