Russian AF Tu-214 special purpose aircraft in Syria

A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-214PU-SBUS ( RA-64529 ) departed this morning from Moscow Chkalovskiy Airport is landing in Latakia AB, Syria.

This a Special-purpose aircraft-control point version of the Tu-204 equipped with a special onboard communication unit SBUS-214 intended for the Ministry of Defence of Russia. The aircraft is built with Russian-made components only, meeting the requirements of the state customers and has a range of at least 7,200 km (4,500 mi). The main purpose of the aircraft is to provide additional communication capabilities to the user. The Russian MoD placed an order for two aircraft in November 2015. The first aircraft was delivered in March 2018 while the second in June the same year