The pre-production aircraft was first spotted by United States reconnaissance satellites in November of that year; it was dubbed Ram-L because it was observed at the Zhukovsky flight test center near the town of Ramenskoye.
Pesawat pra-produksi jenis ini pertama kali ditemukan oleh satelit pengintai Amerika Serikat November tahun tersebut; dijuluki Ram-L karena terlihat di pusat pengujian penerbangan Zhukovsky di dekat kota Ramenskoye.