Ukraine
Russia Using ‘Secret’ Laser Weapons in Ukraine
More disinformation from the Kremlin, or is there a photon of truth in this?
The recent conflict in Ukraine has seen Russia claiming to have used a laser weapon against Ukrainian targets. If true, this marks the first time that we know such a weapon has been used in combat, and it is a sign of the rapidly evolving nature of warfare. Or is it a sign of desperation? Or just Russian BS?
Well, it’s hardly a secret is it, if the Russians are saying it’s in use?
Zadira
The laser weapon, known as the Zadira is believed to have been used to destroy at least two Ukrainian military drones. It is a highly effective tool against unmanned aerial vehicles, and can also be used to blind or damage human eyesight.
However, its ability to penetrate armour is unknown although Russia claims it is powerful enough to burn up a drone.
It’s the latest in the line which started with the Peresvet laser weapon.
Yury Borisov, the Russian deputy prime minister in charge of military development, stated at a conference in Moscow that Peresvet widely deployed and it could blind satellites up to 1500 km away.
“If Peresvet blinds, then the new generation of laser weapons lead to the physical destruction of the target — thermal destruction, they burn up”
In response to a question about such weapons being used in Ukraine, Borisov replied:
“Yes. The first prototypes are already being used there…[called] Zadira.
More powerful weapons?
The major powers all have satellite busting laser systems in development, though whether they are ‘ready to fire’ or operationally deployed is unknown.
Russia’s laser program began with the Beriev A-60, an airborne laser laboratory.
It was designed to research the engineering and other technical challenges of using a missile to disable or destroy satellites.
The US had comparable programs with megawatt class lasers.
Laser weaponry has diverged in several directions since those early days and it is believed that most of the challenges have been overcome. Certainly, using a laser to destroy a drone is far less technically challenging than taking out a satellite.
And it’s surely not practicable to put any serious armour protection on a drone so they are highly susceptible to laser attack.
And so we see Zedira.
Ukraine’s response?
In a late night video address to the nation, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy referred to the ‘wonder weapons’ that the Nazis said they had developed in WWII:
“The clearer it became that they had no chance in the war, the more propaganda there was about an amazing weapon that would be so powerful as to ensure a turning point,”
“And so we see that in the third month of a full-scale war, Russia is trying to find its ‘wonder weapon’ … this all clearly shows the complete failure of the mission.”
This could be valid criticism, but in the case of the Nazis they did have the terrifying V2 rocket against which the UK had no defence.
Israel has done it
I wrote recently about an Israeli short-range antimissile system, Iron Beam:
Laser technology. Transportable on a small trailer or patrol boat, flyable in a plane. Needing only electrical power and with a declared range of 7 km.
This system could easily take out drones which, unlike missiles, are grossly subsonic.
I’m wondering if they could take out planes.
Conclusion — surely Russia has one too
Russia surely has a weapon of this nature, and despite President Zelenskyy’s mockery, I believe that it is in use in Ukraine.
So, for me this is one piece of hot Kremlin air that may not all be bluster.
The question is: ‘When will Ukraine get something comparable from the US?’
It will not be long, for sure, because the US industrial-military complex loves wars, and the Ukraine conflict is a great testing ground — and, sadly, a money spinner.
Of course, if you consider the Israeli ‘Iron Beam’ as an example, then I’m wondering whether the Ukraine could easily use such a system to down Russian aircraft. Pure speculation of course, but even with my physics grad hat on I cannot see why it couldn’t be done.
And what would Putin think of that?
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