Russia Uses New Generation of Laser Weapons in Ukraine

Russia said Wednesday it was using a new generation of high-powered laser weapons to scorch UAVs in Ukraine, using a number of covert weapons from Moscow to thwart an outpouring of Western arms deliveries to its former Soviet neighbor.

 

Virtually nothing is public knowledge of the new laser weapons, but Russian media said in 2017 that Rosatom, the Russian state-run nuclear company, had helped to develop them under a program to build weapons-grade new physics principles known by their Russian acronym, ONFP.

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a number of new weapons in 2018, including a new ICBM, an underwater nuclear drone, a supersonic weapon, and a new laser weapon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin used the occasion to showcase new weapons, such as nuclear-powered cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles.

The hypersonic glide vehicles can penetrate U.S. anti-ballistic missile defenses, highlighting that they were developed in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.

Little is known about the specifics of the new laser weapons. Putin mentioned one called Peresvet, named after a medieval Orthodox warrior monk Alexander Peresvet who perished in mortal combat.

Yury Borisov, the deputy prime minister in charge of military development, told a conference in Moscow that Peresvet was already being widely deployed and it could blind satellites up to 1,500 km above Earth.

He said, though, that there were already more powerful Russian systems than Peresvet that could burn up drones and other equipment. Borisov cited a test on Tuesday which he said had burned up a drone 5 km away within five seconds.

“If Peresvet blinds, then the new generation of laser weapons lead to the physical destruction of the target – thermal destruction, they burn up,” Borisov told Russian state television.

Asked if such weapons were being used in Ukraine, Borisov said: “Yes. The first prototypes are already being used there.” He said the weapon was called “Zadira”.   “msn.com“

The new weapons generation comes as Putin’s military machinery has stumbled in Ukraine, with some estimates saying that Putin’s troops have lost as much as one-third of their numbers since their February 24 invasion.

According to deputy prime minister Yury Borisov, the new weapons are superior to Peresvets laser systems, which are already being produced en masse by the Russian military.

Complicating matters, even more, is the assertion made in the same interview by Krivoruchko that Russia equips planes with laser systems (unrelated to the trailer-mounted Peresvet laser systems) in order to defend them against anti-surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft missiles.

Russia has successfully tested new laser weapons which can blind satellites and destroy drones, according to its deputy prime minister.

Yury Borisov, the man in charge of military development in Putin‘s government, said that the Peresvet system was already being deployed, and had been tested on Tuesday – burning up a drone 3 miles (5km) away.

The system is said by Russia to be able to blind satellites up to 932 miles (1,500km) above Earth.   “msn.com“

A Russian analysis published recently does not exclude a counter space role for Peresvet, an aircraft-based system, but it concluded its most significant user would probably be the Russian Air Force, which might employ it as a surface-to-air weapon.

Russia has also been working on the ability to blind/deadlight satellites using a ground-based laser system (Sokol-Eshelon) for years, as well as a stationary ground-based laser system (Kalina). One Russian analyst recently concluded that the most probable type is a nuclear-powered laser, owing in part to close Strategic Missile Forces involvement with Russian nuclear weapons programs.

Should we be worried over Putin’s new weapons? I’m always concerned about what’s going on around the world as I am about being concerned with our government. I feel confident to say,” whatever new weapons we hear about from other countries, we probably have that and more. Putin will never hold the winning hand against the United States.

God Bless the United States, God Bless the Veterans