Unlike the U.S.’ U-2 spy plane, Russian Myasishchev M-55 was fitted with weapons. And now they’ve figured out that it can carry fairly sizable payloads like telco equipment instead of weapons.
The idea is use the plane to provide telecom coverage in areas where satellite coverage is spotty, or for emergency relief following disasters which take out landline and cellular networks on the ground. The advantage is clear — the Myasishchev M-55 is a very high altitude plane, hence it can cover a much wider area on the ground with its radio uplinks. Neat idea…
[Via: textually.org]