Since the beginning of the seventies of the last century, the military leadership of the USSR has shown great interest in developments related to laser weapons. Laser installations were planned to be placed on space platforms, stations and aircraft. All the installations built were tied to stationary energy sources and did not meet the main requirement of military space - full autonomy, this also did not allow the designers to conduct full-fledged tests. The government of the USSR assigned the task of testing and testing autonomy to the Navy. It was decided to install the laser cannon, which was named MSU (powerful power plant) in all documents, on a surface ship.
In 1976, Sergei Gorshkov, Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy, approved a special assignment for the Chernomorets Central Design Bureau to re-equip the Project 770 SDK-20 landing craft into an experimental vessel, which received the designation Project 10030 Foros. On "Foros" it was planned to test the laser complex "Akvilon", the tasks of which included the defeat of optical-electronic means and crews of enemy ships. The conversion process dragged on for eight years, the mass and decent dimensions of the Aquilon required a significant reinforcement of the ship's hull and an increase in the superstructure. And at the end of September 1984, the ship under the designation OS-90 "Foros" entered the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR.
The ship's hull has undergone really big changes. The ramps were replaced with a stem and bow section. Side boules up to 1.5 meters wide were formed. The ship's superstructure was assembled as a single module with full equipment of posts and premises, a crane with a lifting capacity of one hundred tons was installed. To reduce noise, all living quarters and service premises of the ship were treated with sound-absorbing insulation, for the same purposes, cofferdams appeared on the ship (a narrow horizontal or vertical compartment on the ship to separate adjacent rooms).
All the units of the "Aquilon" complex were mounted with particular precision, especially increased requirements were imposed on the design of their supporting surfaces.
In October 1984, for the first time in the history of the Soviet Navy, test firing from a laser cannon was carried out at the Feodosiya test site from the experimental vessel Foros. On the whole, the shooting was successful, the low-flying missile was timely detected and destroyed by a laser beam.
But at the same time, a number of shortcomings were revealed - the attack lasted only a few seconds, but preparation for firing took more than a day, the efficiency was very low, only five percent. An undoubted success was that during the tests, scientists managed to gain experience in the combat use of lasers, but the collapse of the USSR and the economic crisis that followed stopped the experimental work, not allowing them to finish what they had begun.
"Foros" was not the only ship of the Soviet Navy, on which laser systems were tested.
At the same time, in parallel with the re-equipment of "Foros", in Sevastopol, according to the project of the Nevsky Design Bureau, the modernization of the dry cargo ship of the auxiliary fleet "Dikson" began. Work on the modernization of "Dixon" began in 1978. Simultaneously with the beginning of the re-equipment of the ship, the assembly of the laser installation began at the Kaluga Turbine Plant. All work on the creation of a new laser cannon was classified, it was supposed to become the most powerful Soviet combat laser installation, the project was named "Aydar".
The work on the modernization of the "Dixon" required a huge amount of resources and money. In addition, in the course of work, designers were constantly faced with problems of a scientific and technical nature. So, for example, in order to equip the ship with 400 compressed air cylinders, it was necessary to completely remove the metal sheathing from both sides. Then it turned out that the hydrogen accompanying the firing could accumulate in closed spaces and inadvertently explode, it was necessary to install enhanced ventilation. Especially for the laser installation, the upper deck of the ship was designed so that it could open into two parts. As a result, the hull, which had lost its strength, had to be strengthened. To strengthen the ship's power plant, three jet engines from the Tu-154 were installed on it.
At the end of 1979, "Dixon" was transferred to the Crimea, Feodosia, on the Black Sea. Here, at the Ordzhonikidze shipyard, the ship was equipped with a laser cannon and control systems. Here the crew settled on the ship.
The first tests of the Dixon took place in the summer of 1980. During the tests, a laser salvo was fired, firing at a target located on the shore at a distance of 4 kilometers. It was possible to hit the target the first time, but at the same time, the beam itself and the visible destruction of the target were not seen by anyone present. The hit was recorded by a thermal sensor mounted on the target itself. The efficiency of the beam was still the same 5%, all the energy of the beam was absorbed by moisture evaporation from the sea surface.
However, the tests were found to be excellent. Indeed, according to the intention of the creators, the laser was intended for use in space, where, as you know, a complete vacuum reigns.
In addition to low efficiency and combat characteristics, the installation was simply enormous and difficult to operate.
The tests continued until 1985. As a result of further tests, it was possible to obtain data in what form combat laser installations can be assembled, on which classes of warships it is best to install them, it was even possible to increase the combat power of the laser. All planned tests by 1985 were successfully completed.
But despite the fact that the tests were recognized as successful, the creators of the installation, both military and designers, were well aware that it would hardly be possible to put such a monster into orbit in the next 20-30 years. These arguments were voiced to the top party leadership of the country, which, in turn, in addition to the voiced problems, were also worried about huge, multimillion-dollar costs and the timing of the construction of lasers.
By that time, the overseas potential enemy of the USSR faced exactly the same problems. The space arms race came to a standstill at the very beginning, and the result of the race that did not begin, in fact, was the Defense and Space negotiations, which served as an impetus for the bilateral curtailment of military space programs. The USSR demonstratively stopped all work on several military space programs. The Aydar project was also abandoned and the unique Dixon ship was forgotten.
Both ships were part of the 311 division of experimental ships. In 1990, laser installations were dismantled, technical documentation was destroyed, and the unique ships "Foros" and "Dixon" - the pioneers of Soviet laser engineering - were scrapped.
