Russia said on Wednesday it is using a new generation of powerful laser weapons in Ukraine to incinerate unmanned aerial vehicles, using some of Moscow’s secret weapons to contain many Western weapons supplied to the neighboring country.
President Vladimir Putin unveiled a host of new weapons in 2018, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile, submarine nuclear drones, a supersonic weapon, and a new laser weapon.
Little is known about the characteristics of the new laser weapons. Putin mentioned someone named Peresvet, named after the medieval Orthodox monk Alexander Peresvet, who died in the war.
Yuri Borisov, deputy prime minister for military development, said at a conference in Moscow that Peresvet is already widely deployed and can blind satellites up to 1,500km above Earth.
However, he claimed that there are already Russian systems more powerful than Peresvet, capable of burning drones and other equipment. Borisov cited a test Tuesday that he said burned a drone 5km away in five seconds.
“If Peresvet blinds, then the next generation of laser weapons leads to the physical destruction of the target – thermal destruction, it burns,” Borisov told Russian state television.
When asked whether these weapons were used in Ukraine, Borisov replied, “Yes. The first prototypes are already used there.” He said the name of the gun was “Zadira”.
source: Noticias
