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In mid 1950s, the USSR Council of Ministers was spurred by the
thread from the U.S. strategic bomber. The possible objective for the
Soviet Union at the time was to create the "eyes" from the upper
hemisphere for country's defenses. In
1958, the requirement of the first Soviet Airborne Warning and Control
System was identified. As the Tu-95 bear bomber was the most high-altitude
airplane at the time, the Tupolev bureau was assigned to develop a new
platform that based from the Tu-95. The result was the Tu-126 AWACS
airplane. According to the decision, Tupolev engineers found that it is
impossible to squeeze all the necessary equipment into the slim Tu-95
fuselage. In 1960, the USSR Navy approved to form the Tu-126 on the basis
of Aeroflot Tu-114 airliner which was significantly greater diameter and
volume of the airframe. The Tu-126 was produced in limited numbers and was
believed to have entered service in 1971. In 1980s the Beriev A-50 Mainstay began
development, and Tu-126 was finally replaced by the A-50 in 1991.
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