The Russian army began using laser weapons against Ukrainian military drones

The big showdown between the Russian and Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region, the combination of drones and artillery, is becoming the protagonist on the battlefield. And suppose the Russian army uses anti-aircraft missiles to hit small Ukrainian UAVs or consumer UAVs. That will increase costs, and the Russian military will rapidly lose its air defense weapons. also, missiles are an expensive method to counter small drones

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister claimed that Russian troops in Ukraine used a new laser to destroy Ukrainian drones at this critical moment. Zelensky was quick to interview the media, hyping Russia’s laser counter-drone system as a “wonder weapon” introduced by Nazi Germany at the end of World War II.

We are talking, in particular, about the “Zadira” laser complex, which is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to five kilometers, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said.

Russia has deployed its ‘secret’ new generation of powerful laser weapon in the war against Ukraine known as “Zadira” (Задира, Bully) laser system that can silently burn drone targets in the sky “within five seconds”. Moscow unveiled the new weapon to counter Ukraine’s Baykar Bayraktar TB2 that was deployed near snake island to deter Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea. Ukraine’s Bayraktar TB2 armed UAV, infrared camera for night operations, and GPS-GNSS anti-jammer antenna has been patrolling the waters near Odesa.

Moscow’s newly deployed laser weapon system is capable of incinerating its target up to 3 miles, destroying physical objects located at a range of 5 kilometres, and blinding the satellites up to 1,500 km above Earth. But Moscow is known to stockpile much more powerful systems than Peresvet in its arsenal.

What do the Russian army’s laser weapons in Ukraine mean?

One of the more significant possibilities is an experiment. The weapon Russia claims to be using is mounted on an armored truck. A senior U.S. defense official said the U.S. had seen no evidence to substantiate Russia’s claims that it used laser weapons in Ukraine. The number of such weapons and equipment is minimal. There may be only one set, which can only be regarded as a weapon undergoing an actual combat test.

Second, it may reflect the severe shortage of anti-aircraft missiles in the Russian army. Ukraine says Russia has fired more than 2,000 missiles at Ukraine, consuming most of its air defense and surface-to-surface missiles. Now, the Russian military must find cheaper alternatives to air defense protection. The main force of the Russian field air defense system is Doyle and armor, which are effective for combating small drones, but they cannot be consumed at all. Especially in the face of many consumer drones made in China, there is often no suitable means of attack.

It also hints that the Russian army is preparing for a long-term war of attrition. From the beginning of Russia recruiting older contract soldiers from the country, organizing new reserve combat forces, changing tactics in Ukraine, and then starting to use laser weapons, it proves that the Russian army has learned war in war and uses more effective defense. There are many kinds of development going on around the world in the field of laser weapons; we can say that laser weapons will be more effective and capable of changing wars in the future. Many countries are trying hard to achieve a successful results in this field.