Russia dispatches new era of laser weapons to Ukraine to “burn” drones (video)

The weapons are already being used in Ukraine

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

Borisov, who is 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.

Little is known about the characteristics of the new laser weapon. Putin had mentioned a man named Peresvet, named after a medieval orthodox warrior monk, Alexander Peresvet, who was killed in battle.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 had introduced a series of new weapons that included a new intercontinental ballistic missile, submarine drones, a supersonic weapon, and a new laser weapon.

Borisov said today: ‘It is already being mass-supplied to the (missile) troops, and it can blind all satellite reconnaissance systems of a likely enemy in orbits of up to 1,500 km, disabling them during the flight due to the use of laser radiation,’ Borisov said.

Asked if these weapons were used in Ukraine, Borisov said: “Yes, the first prototypes have already been used there” and are called Zadira.

Almost nothing has been made public about Zadira, but in 2017 the Russian media reported that state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom had helped develop a weapons-based physics program known to the Russians as ONFP.