Mr. Shoigu: With Peresvet, Russia intercepts without launching missiles

The statement was made by Russian Defense Minister Shoigu when talking about the power of the Peresvet high-powered laser weapon system.
According to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian defense industry has created a revolution in the field of non-contact attack and interception – that is, the creation of the Peresvet laser weapon system.

Russian Peresvet complex. “Peresvet can hit various targets at an unexpected distance from the opponent. The capabilities of this weapon have been proven in combat,” the Russian minister said, comparing the Peresvet to weapons. gas in the American movie Star Wars: “You remember 20 years ago, laser weapons existed only in American fiction films. Today, Russia has made this a reality and the Peresvet complex has been successfully tested and put into service. “. The first Peresvet high-power laser weapon complex was equipped with the Russian Army starting at the end of 2018. It is also in the Russian category of classified weapons. But according to two Russian military experts Alexei Leonkov and Igor Korotchenko, the Peresvet combat laser weapon system has two very important capabilities: shooting down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and countering long-range cruise missiles with American Tomahawk high precision. Igor Korotchenko, director of the Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade (CAMTO), confirmed that laser weapons such as the Peresvet complex can destroy unmanned aircraft. “Under favorable conditions, laser complexes like Peresvet are effective enough to destroy simulated targets such as drones, low-flying helicopters,” Korotchenko said. A second important feature is that thanks to Peresvet, Russia can effectively deal with modern air attack vehicles, high-precision weapons or reconnaissance equipment using optical-electronic equipment, expert Alexei Leonkov said. For example, to determine the target, the American Tomahawk missile will search for it visually, orient it with a digitized topographic map, put into the automatic control memory. If at this very moment a combination like Peresvet affects it, the search immediately stops. When the target is lost, the Tomahawk will self-destruct. Thus, despite no loud claims, Russia has quietly developed and quickly commissioned real laser weapons systems, forming combat capabilities, not merely tests. in the laboratory. With the above analysis, it is clear that in addition to close-range air defense systems such as Pantsir-S, Tor-M2E, the US Tomahawk cruise missile continues to encounter a very dangerous new enemy of Russia. Peresvet’s name. According to military expert Konstantin Sivkov, director of the Russian Institute of Geopolitical Affairs, Russia’s introduction of the Peresvet is one step ahead of the US. Currently, many countries are still in the exploration and testing stage of laser weapons development. Even the US can only use low-power tactical laser weapons with powers typically below 100 kilowatts. The most recent test in May 2020, the US successfully performed a laser weapon with a power of about 150 kilowatts. But even so, this capacity is still not enough to be able to destroy attack fighters and other targets. A 150 kilowatt laser can only counter speedboats or small UAVs, and the range is limited. At the same time, the stability of the laser in the actual combat environment is also a dilemma for the US and some other countries. When Russian laser weapons are already able to hit and destroy targets on the actual battlefield, it means that Russia’s technical level in the laser field has really matured. Also related to the recent US test of laser weapons in the Pacific Ocean, expert Konstantin Sivkov, expressed doubts about the effectiveness of US laser weapons. “To shoot down a more complex target like a ballistic missile as the US claims, requires keeping the laser beam on the target for several tens of seconds. That’s a great technical difficulty. During this time, the rocket flew a distance of tens of kilometers. There is currently no evidence that US laser weapons are successful in dealing with such fast targets,” the Russian expert wrote.