Russian troops during a special operation of the RF Armed Forces in Ukraine used the latest Zadira laser system.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yury Borisov spoke about this, speaking at the educational marathon "New Horizons" of the Russian society "Knowledge".

The deputy head of government said that the target in the form of a UAV at a distance of 5 km was hit by thermal radiation emanating from the Zadira.

“Within five seconds, the unmanned vehicle was simply burned,” Borisov said.

"Power Boost"

In a comment to journalists on the sidelines of the New Horizons marathon, Yuri Borisov noted that Zadira is different from the Peresvet laser complex, which the country and the whole world first learned about in March 2018 from the message of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly.

“If Peresvet blinds, then the new generation of laser weapons already leads to physical damage to the object, that is, to thermal damage, burns it through ... This is already, as they say, a completely different class of equipment for combating drones so that we do not spend expensive missiles like "Shell" and "Torah," the Deputy Prime Minister explained.

As Borisov added, the current engagement distance is not the limit and can be increased by increasing the specific power of the complex.

From the words of the Deputy Prime Minister, it follows that the Zadira is supplied to the Russian troops.

In addition, as Borisov said, the complex has already been used in the course of a special military operation in Ukraine.

As candidate of military sciences Sergey Suvorov noted in an interview with RT, laser weapons are a technologically complex product, but the cost of one shot from it is significantly lower than from an anti-aircraft missile system (SAM).

In addition, the laser beam reaches the target almost instantly and cannot be intercepted.

“The advantage of laser weapons is that they have a very high speed.

It actually operates at the speed of light.

Currently, the laser does not have such destructive power as, for example, an anti-aircraft missile, but it is much more effective when it is necessary to disable the optics or electronics on aircraft, ”says Suvorov.

A similar view on the use of "Zadira" in order to increase the effectiveness of the air defense of the Russian Federation in a conversation with RT was expressed by a military expert, ex-head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the special forces command of the Russian Air Force Sergey Khatylev.

"Zadira" showed itself well in the fight against UAVs, but, most likely, the range of application of the complex is wider - these are other air targets that have a relatively low speed, ”the expert suggested.

  • A UAV shot down during a special operation

  • RIA News

  • © Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

According to the expert, the peculiarity of the Zadira is that the complex is capable of destroying structural elements of drones.

Thus, the beams of the laser complex "cause physical damage to air objects."

For the first time about "Zadir" it became known during the international military-technical forum "Army-2017".

On its fields, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Federal Nuclear Center" signed a contract for the implementation of experimental design work (R&D) under the name "Zadira-16".

The project involved the development of a combat complex based on new physical principles.

On the part of the military department, Borisov put his signature - at that time he was in the position of Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

In June 2019, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, opening a scientific and practical conference with the leadership of the RF Armed Forces, said that in the near future the army and navy should receive "a completely new, unparalleled weapon" based, among other things, on laser energy.

“In the near future, the army and navy will receive a completely new, unparalleled weapon based on hypersonic and laser energy technologies.

Its first samples have already been put on experimental combat duty, ”said the head of the Russian military department.

In January 2020, a message was published on the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on plans to equip the army with "innovative types of weapons based on new physical principles."

Among the priorities mentioned was the ROC for the creation of a tactical laser complex for the destruction of UAVs and the incapacitation of lightly protected surface targets.

Such development work is carried out in the interests of the ground forces, aerospace forces and the navy.

“The complex will have a modular principle for constructing the main systems, which in the future will allow for a phased increase in power and the range of targets hit,” the website of the Russian military department said.

"Peresvet" and "Luchezar"

Until recently, only the Peresvet self-propelled complex was known to a wide audience from the range of combat laser weapons.

In his speech at the New Horizons educational marathon, Borisov said that the system is being serially supplied to units of the RF Armed Forces.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the laser beam of this weapon is capable of incapacitating satellites in orbits up to 1,500 km high.

Other tactical and technical characteristics of "Peresvet" were not disclosed.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the laser self-propelled gun is used by the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN).

"Peresvet" is on combat duty in the positional areas of mobile missile systems "with the task of covering their maneuvering actions." 

  • Machines from the complex "Peresvet"

  • © Frame: video of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Earlier, the military announced plans to increase the capacity of Peresvet and install it on an air platform.

To date, the results of this work have not yet been reported.

“Work is underway to develop technologies for creating powerful lasers of various types.

We are also working to increase the capacity of the Peresvet complex.

In the coming years, it is planned to place it on an aviation carrier, ”Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexei Krivoruchko said in an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda at the end of 2019.

The Ministry of Defense does not disclose the name of the developer "Peresvet", however, in August last year, Sergei Shoigu said that the complex is the brainchild of one of the enterprises of Sarov (Nizhny Novgorod region).

It is known that the center of competence in the field of laser technologies in this city is the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF).

In 2020, the scientists of this enterprise launched the first module of the world's most powerful laser system UFL-2M.

It was noted that with its help, research will be possible to determine the possibility of creating new energy sources and designing new types of nuclear weapons.

In addition to Zadira and Peresvet, Russian specialists are creating another new model of laser weapons as part of the Luchezar project, which is being implemented by the military innovative technopolis Era (Anapa).

The product is designed to disable enemy surveillance equipment and is distinguished by its compact size.

“This is a promising small-sized mobile complex capable of neutralizing reconnaissance devices containing CCD matrices by functional destruction of radiation by lasers.

A feature of this complex is the lens being developed, which allows hitting surveillance equipment, ”the website of the RF Ministry of Defense says.

  • Module of the world's most powerful laser system UFL-2M

  • © RFNC-VNNIEF

Also, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, recent work has been carried out to equip strategic, tactical and army aircraft with laser systems.

They protect carriers from being hit by surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles with optical homing heads.

As Sergei Khatylev explained, over the past 5-10 years, Russia has made significant progress in the development of combat laser technologies.

Meanwhile, the expert drew attention to the need for further improvement of weapons of this class.

“In the future, laser weapons, of course, should be more compact and more powerful.

We need new sources of energy, more capacious and able to work for a long time.

These problems hold back a truly large-scale deployment of lasers on various carriers.

However, we understand the importance of developing such technologies.

We see that intensive work is underway in Russia to improve the characteristics of laser weapons, ”concluded Khatylev.