Russia tests new laser weapons (VIDEO)
Russia has successfully tested eight anti-aircraft laser systems, the government said on Friday. They were designed specifically to tackle drone threats, the statement added.
The trials were attended by senior Russian officials, including Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. The tests were conducted at specialized proving grounds and organized by Russia's Military-Industrial Commission and Ministry of Industry and Trade.
'During the tests, the accuracy of guidance, range of destruction, reaction speed of the systems to moving air targets, and resistance to various weather conditions were checked,' the Russian government said in its statement.
Eight new weapons, ranging from 'compact mobile devices to stationary high-power systems,' were tested during the trials. The laser weapons faced assorted targets, including small-sized commercial drones and 'more complex devices simulating reconnaissance and attack drones,' the Kremlin said.
Footage of the trials shows drones getting shot out of the sky by laser beams and crashing into the ground. The video also features the destroyed targets put on display, with some of the drones appearing to bear distinct burn marks.
All the systems featured at the test performed as advertised by their manufacturers, the statement noted. It also said that the trials proved 'the correctness of the chosen direction for the development of integrated defense systems' to protect critical infrastructure facilities from UAVs. The trials pave the way to mass production of the relevant systems and to scaling the solutions displayed by the manufacturers, it added.
Attempts to create laser-based weaponry, including anti-aircraft systems, have been repeatedly made by many nations. Most combat laser systems however, never made it past the prototype stage, being plagued by assorted operational and technical issues, including too short a range and dependency on high-output power sources.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, where cheap mass-produced drones have become a key tool for both battlefield use and long-range strikes, has apparently given a new impetus to the development of laser-based systems. In recent months, several countries, including Ukraine, India, and Israel, have unveiled new weapons of the type.
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