Many people remember the science fiction novel by Alexei Tolstoy "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin", and surely many have watched the feature film of the same name. Of course, both the book and the film are fiction, but today all the events described have become possible in reality and on a much larger scale. Since its invention in 1960, the laser has received special attention from the military. It turned out to be extremely useful not only for performing peaceful tasks, but also for military purposes. Laser rangefinders, sights, guidance systems, locators are in service with every modern army.
From the first day of the invention of the laser, the idea of all-destructive rays of death dominated the minds of the generals, and almost immediately they demanded that scientists create lasers to destroy targets on earth, air and even in space. More than fifty years ago, scientists agreed to create laser weapons, but despite the long time that has passed since that moment, laser weapon combat systems capable of destroying various targets have not been invented.
However, one should not be surprised. It is clear that during the experiment, under normal conditions, it is quite possible to destroy the tank of the Second World War. The armor of these vehicles does not exceed 7 centimeters, and the distance to the target can be chosen optimal. But in reality, everything looks a little different. The distance to the target can reach several kilometers, plus unfavorable meteorological conditions and smoke, but this is far from the main thing, a significant role is played by the fact that modern tanks are far from cans, the thickness of their armor can reach 100 millimeters, and penetrate it extremely hard. Of course, during the experiment, it is possible to hit the stage of the first-generation American ballistic liquid-propellant intercontinental missile "Titan" from 500 meters. But it is possible to assert only from the theoretical point of view to pierce the solid-propellant stage of the Topol, which flies in the stratosphere from a distance of several hundred kilometers.
Russian designers of missile weapons need to proceed from the worst-case combination of possible threats, taking into account the ideal conditions for the enemy. Our weapons must successfully withstand such military lasers. Therefore, it is extremely important to adopt the new solid-fuel Bulava, which is hardly vulnerable to such a laser and is capable of accelerating faster than other existing missiles. In this case, the most modern American flying laser will pose no real threat to our strategic nuclear forces. At the same time, Sineva-2, which runs on liquid fuel, will not be able to withstand laser systems to the same extent.
Experiments are underway in the United States to create several variants of laser combat systems. One of them is an ATL airborne complex, which is planned to be installed on the C-130 transport aircraft. The main purpose of the complex is to destroy unarmored ground targets. But this complex has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, it can conduct aimed and most effective fire only from close range. And, secondly, the complex, despite its multimillion-dollar cost, can be easily destroyed using an anti-aircraft missile system (MANPADS).
At the moment, the most advertised project is the ABL-1Y missile defense flying laser, which is located on the Boeing-747. Its main purpose is to destroy launching ballistic missiles. Work on the creation of this machine began in the early 90s. And the very idea of creating such a laser complex was based on another experimental laser NKC-135A, which was tested in the early 80s. But thirty years ago, the main targets were air-to-air missiles. The main result of the tests was the refutation of the previously approved firing range of up to 60 kilometers, in reality it did not exceed 5 kilometers. But the Americans are looking for ways to create an effective means of destroying launching missiles at a distance of at least 500 kilometers. The main goal of these searches is to prevent the launch of ballistic missiles from Russian submarines.
Despite the huge funds that the US government annually allocates for the development of laser weapons, they have not been able to achieve tangible success. The most that the US military can still enjoy is the defeat of several targets in the form of mock-ups of ballistic missiles. But they are modestly silent about the distance to the target and its speed - obviously, there is nothing to brag about. And the tests were carried out at night over the ocean - in almost ideal conditions for both detection and target acquisition systems and for a laser.
Experiments with laser weapons were also carried out in the USSR. It must be admitted that they have been solving the problem of creating a completely new type of weapon since the invention of the laser, and the creators of the laser, academicians Prokhorov and Basov, took part in the development. A large number of experimental installations were created, including the Terra missile defense system, capable of affecting various objects in space. Within the framework of the secret program "Omega", air defense lasers, including mobile ones, were developed. Unfortunately, there is no exact data on the success of testing experimental systems due to the special secrecy, but, according to unofficial information, targets were hit at an altitude of up to 40 kilometers.
At one time, a rumor was spread in the Western media that one of the systems created under the Terra program was able to irradiate the American Shuttle, which caused the latter to turn off the entire automatic system for some time. But there was no real evidence of such a loud rumor. It is worth noting that there could be no real confirmation, since all the work was carried out under the heading "Top Secret" and the Chekists could not leak even insignificant information. The secrecy label is also imposed on Russian developments in this direction. A small amount of information that is received for public review is related to the conversion and the introduction of military technologies for peaceful purposes. So, in particular, several years ago, the MLTK-50 metal structure cutting complex was presented for general familiarization, which is designed for cutting thick-walled pipes at a distance of up to 1 kilometer.
But if a means of striking is developed, protection systems must also be developed. Back in the 80s, the developers of ballistic missiles, warheads, which include complexes of anti-missile defense systems, were puzzled by the creation of protection against a possible laser threat. The main method of protection can be an aerosol cloud consisting of suspensions that absorb the beam. Giving the rocket a rotation can also "smear" the explosive glow spot over the larger surface of the target.
The fact that Russia is developing a modern air-based combat laser became known back in August 2009, when Yuri Zaitsev, acting academic adviser to the Academy of Engineering Sciences of the Russian Federation, announced this. In particular, he said that in the weapons program, which was adopted and approved by the Scientific and Technical Council of the military-industrial complex, there are sections that involve the development of a completely new type of laser weapon. And not so long ago it became known about the creation of a new laser combat system based on the A-60 aircraft, which is designed to blind the enemy's optical-electronic reconnaissance systems. The real purpose of the laser system is unknown, but it must be admitted that this is a very real use of laser weapons.
The development of so-called non-lethal laser weapons has become a popular topic in recent years. Many Western countries have taken up these weapons seriously under the guise of good intentions to fight terrorism. China also joined, which on its new ZTZ-99G tank placed a laser turret capable of disabling enemy optical systems and partially blinding gunners. True, the Chinese government froze further development of new types of such weapons.
In the Soviet Union, such systems were developed and created for a long time, some samples were even adopted for service. So, in the early 80s, sighting platoons were introduced to the states of Soviet divisions that were deployed in the Western Districts and Groups of Forces, which were equipped with BMP-1C with AV-1 laser equipment. The main purpose of these machines was to damage the optics installed on armored vehicles and anti-tank systems of the enemy, as well as to partially blind the operators and gunners. Externally, the vehicles did not differ from the common BMP-1, which made them more survivable.
Also, laser complexes "Aquilon" were created, capable of suppressing optical means of coastal defense, later, in 1992, the "Compression" system was adopted to replace these complexes. For the purpose of camouflage, the system was placed on the chassis and in the turret of the Msta-S self-propelled guns and was able to automatically determine the location of glaring objects and destroy them using a whole battery of lasers.
Now one thing is clear - the massive appearance of truly powerful combat lasers in service with the armies in the coming decades should not be expected. But the cessation of scientific work on the creation of combat lasers - too. In addition, perhaps the developers will be able to solve the significant problems that now make the field of use of combat lasers extremely narrow. Therefore, we can confidently assert that Russia will also continue the work begun both on the creation of laser attack systems and on the development of integrated defense systems against them.
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