The Tu-214R is a little-known multi-role reconnaissance aircraft, only two prototypes of which were undergoing trials as of November 2015, when the first of them – the example shown here, registration RF-64511 – was deployed to Syria. The primary mission equipment of this variant consists of the Vega MRK-411 multi-band radar system, which includes side-looking radars with flat antennas on the forward fuselage, and an all-round surveillance radar in a teardrop-shaped radome under the aft fuselage. The long fairing under the forward fuselage houses a high-definiton electro-optical reconnaissance system that works in two bands, visible and infra-red, and includes multiple digital and thermal imaging cameras. Painted in light admiralty grey overall (except for the sat-com antenna on the back of the aircraft, which is painted in radome white), both aircraft were only marked with the national flag and their registrations. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)