Russia Successfully Tests Secret Laser Weapon That Can Shoot Down Drones 5km Away

Russia has revealed it is using a new generation of lasers that are so strong they can reduce drones to ashes from up to five kilometres away.

But that isn't the only scary weapon the Russians claim they have up their sleeve.

It seems Russian President Vladimir Putin is deploying a whole range of secret weapons to counter Ukraine's influx of Western arms.

In 2018, Putin unveiled a series of next generation weaponry: an intercontinental ballistic missile, underwater nuclear drones, a supersonic weapon and a laser weapon.

Kremlin Pool / Alamy Stock Photo

Little is known about the specifics of Russia's new laser weapon, but it is believed to be a weapon he has previously referred to as Peresvet.

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of military development, Yury Borisov told a conference in Moscow that Peresvet was already being widely deployed, according to Reuters.

Borisov said the laser could blind satellites up to 1,500 km above the Earth.

He also claimed a test-run of the laser had burned up a drone placed five kilometres away in five seconds.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the test.

"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 flight due to the use of laser radiation," Borisov said.

"But that, let's say, is of today, or even in some ways of yesterday: our physicists have now created, and practically mass-produced, laser systems which are more powerful by an order of magnitude that can inflict thermal destruction on various apparatus."

Yuliia Burlachenko / Alamy Stock Photo

He went on to tell Russian state television: "If Peresvet blinds, then the new generation of laser weapons lead to the physical destruction of the target - thermal destruction, they burn up."

Borisov also revealed he had recently returned from Sarov, a closed down which acts as the centre of Russia's nuclear weapons research.

Borisov said the next generation of laser weapons will ultimately replace conventional weapons used today.

"This is not some sort of exotic idea; it is the reality," Borisov said.

If Russia's revelations are in fact true, it means that Moscow has made significant progress with their laser weapons program.

Laser weapons, once thought of as pure science fiction, have been a focus for top military in recent years.

The United States, China and Russia have all been working on their own variants of laser military technology in recent years, Reuters reports.

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