The Russian government announced that a series of tests of 8 anti-terrorism laser weapons systems will be held at specialized training grounds, under the supervision of First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and representatives of the Russian Military-Industrial Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
This is considered Moscow's largest demonstration of military laser technology ever.
According to the announcement, the newly tested systems include light compact mobile devices and high-power fixed complexes. In the tests, laser weapons successfully shot down many types of targets, from small commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to reconnaissance and attack aircraft simulation equipment.
In particular, a video released by the Russian Government shows the UAVs being directly projected with laser rays, burning and falling to the ground, many of which have clear traces of fires.
The tests have comprehensively assessed the accuracy of firing, range of target destruction, reaction speed and ability to operate in different weather conditions. As a result, all systems have met the technical specifications and operations as promoted by developers.
These studies have proven that the development of integrated defense systems is completely correct, especially in protecting critical infrastructure against the threat of UAVs, the announcement affirmed.
Russia is promoting the mass production of these laser systems and large-scale deployment in the coming time.
Many countries have long pursued the ambition to develop laser weapons, but most of the projects have been stuck with technical limitations such as short-range fireworks, requiring extremely large energy sources and low stability, causing the majority to only stop at the prototype stage.
However, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where cheap and mass-produced UAVs have become the main battlefield weapons, is creating a strong driving force to promote arms laser technology.
In the past few months, many countries such as Ukraine, India and Israel have also announced new UAV anti-UAV laser prototypes.
