“Immediate target defeat”: what are the capabilities of the Russian combat laser “Peresvet”

The Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov, said that the calculations of the Peresvet laser complex were already on alert at the Strategic Missile Forces equipped with strategic mobile missile systems.

“Since the beginning of December, the Peresvet laser systems have been on alert in the position areas of mobile ground missile systems with the task of covering up their maneuvering operations,” Gerasimov said at a meeting with representatives of the military diplomatic corps accredited in the Russian Federation.

The Strategic Missile Forces consists of eight divisions operating the Soil, Topol-M and Yars intercontinental-range ground-based missile systems. Such data was announced on December 16 in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper by the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Sergei Karakaev.

In a conversation with RT, military expert Dmitry Litovkin called the decision of the Ministry of Defense logical to put Peresvet on combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces. At the same time, he did not rule out that in the coming years the laser complex and its modifications will develop other types and branches of the Russian armed forces.

“In the Strategic Missile Forces“ Peresvet ”will be engaged in air defense systems“ Topol ”and“ Yars ”, capable of traveling long distances even in off-road conditions. The laser systems will move in a convoy along with other combat vehicles, which are always accompanied by strategic systems on combat duty routes, ”Litovkin explained.

Theory and practice

"Relight" - a self-propelled combat laser system, belonging to the class of weapons on new physical principles. He began to enter the Russian troops in 2017 as part of the then-existing State Arms Program.

However, for the first time about “Relight” it became known from the message to the Federal Assembly of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2018. The head of state said that the appearance of a combat laser and other promising weapons "multiplies the capabilities of Russia ... in the field of ensuring national security."

“There is every reason to believe that here we are one step ahead. In any case, where it is most needed. So, significant results have been achieved in the creation of laser weapons. And this is not just a theory or projects, and not even just the beginning of production. Since last year, military laser systems have already entered the troops, ”Putin said.

In July, the Ministry of Defense announced the completion of infrastructure preparation activities for Peresvet. In particular, the A.A. Mozhaiskogo (St. Petersburg) conducted training for military personnel who will manage combat laser systems.

“The personnel of the units equipped with the Peresvet combat laser complex underwent retraining at the Mozhaisk Military Space Academy and are currently improving their professional knowledge in the special, technical and tactical training classes,” the site said Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

On December 18 last year, speaking at a collegium of the military department, Vladimir Putin announced that the calculations of the laser complex had entered into pilot combat duty and began "testing the practical use" of this latest weapon.

In February 2019, in the next message to the Federal Assembly, the president said that “Peresvet” in the mode of pilot combat duty confirmed “its unique characteristics”. The president promised that in December all laser systems delivered to the armed forces would take up combat duty.

• Calculation of the complex "Relight"
• © Frame: video of the Ministry of Defense of Russia

The situation with the operation of Peresvet is under the constant control of the head of state. For example, the practical results of the military operation of the complex became one of the central topics at the traditional May meeting of the president with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and defense industry enterprises.

Based on an analysis of open sources, the founder of the Military Russia portal Dmitry Kornev suggested in an interview with RT that the calculation of Peresvet includes a combat vehicle with an optoelectronic system (laser), an energy module, an energy module control machine with a trailer substation, a command post vehicle car to accommodate personnel.

Also, the military unit where Peresvet is deployed should be equipped with a stationary hangar-type room for basing and servicing the complex’s automotive equipment, says Kornev.

Air Defense

The development of "Peresvet", according to Dmitry Kornev, started in 2012 at the Moscow State Technical University. N.E. Bauman. The leading Russian university in Russia has won the Defense Ministry competition for research work (R&D) “Research on ways to create a ground-based mobile laser complex for the heat and functional destruction of air targets” (code “Corrector”). In addition to MSTU, JSC Almaz-Antey Concern VKO claimed the right to develop a combat laser complex.

Kornev believes that the primary task of Peresvet is to ensure air defense. The complex is capable of hitting small UAVs, optical reconnaissance, surveillance and target designation equipment. The combat laser receives the coordinates of enemy targets from other air defense systems. Moreover, he can independently detect and track the target in the optical range.

“There is a point of view that Peresvet can disable satellites that make up the basis of the space echelon of a potential enemy’s missile attack warning system (SPRN). I don’t share it, but I consider it appropriate to mention it in view of the extremely mean official information about the purpose of the complex, ”said Kornev.

The issue of generating powerful laser energy in Peresvet can be resolved through the use of a small-sized nuclear installation, argues RT. According to him, Russia has made significant progress in the development of compact nuclear units.

Military expert Dmitry Litovkin considers the main advantage of Peresvet to be "the inability to intercept the shot and instantly hit the target." In a RT commentary, he stated that such weapons could cause serious damage to the skin of aircraft (including missiles and warheads) and burn the enemy’s electronic equipment.

• Machine complex "Relight"
• © Frame: video of the Ministry of Defense of Russia

“The main obstacle to the use of combat laser weapons is insufficient generation. To produce a beam, very large-sized sources of energy are required. But our country has the necessary technological background to create more compact devices. I mean supercapacitors - an intermediate device between the battery and the battery, which instantly produces an electric charge, ”said Litovkin.

According to Litovkin, Peresvet can become a platform for creating a variety of laser weapons, which in the future will go into the arsenal of the Aerospace Forces and the Russian Navy.

“The Soviet Union and Western states actively experimented with lasers, realizing the prospects of their use. However, significant progress was achieved only now, and this was done by Russian scientists. Peresvet is the only combat laser in the world that is operated by the troops. This is a huge success for our defense industry and the army, ”summed up Litovkin.