Peresvet Laser System is to Blind Reconnaissance Satellites and Cover ICBMs, Specifications Revealed by russia
For starters, a brief reminder. Since 2018, russian state media have been occasionally bringing up the Peresvet, an anti-satellite laser system, as per tradition hailing it as a “one-of-a-kind” weapon.
However, while trying to keep the public reminded of its existence, they never disclosed any specifics. Instead, they attributed any sort of natural phenomena to the alleged activity of this mysterious equipment, like unusual lights in Eastern Europe.
Now, in a sudden change of attitude, the Kremlin decided to reveal some specific capabilities of Peresvet. Notably, the article published via one of its media outlets attempts to connect this disclosure to the ongoing events in the Kursk Region of russia. Even though the reporters say the laser system wasn’t made for a type of war russia wages against Ukraine.
In particular, the purpose of Peresvet is to provide cover to the carriers of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), it’s achieved by blinding early warning satellites with a laser beam. Why the mission of this system is limited to countering only this type of satellite, designed to detect ICBM launches, and not any other ordinary reconnaissance satellite, is an open question.
As stated, Peresvet can technically target any sort of satellite in an orbit between 200 and 1,100 kilometers of altitude within a 65 to 90 km radius in horizontal plane. The source of these figures is not mentioned.
What’s interesting, while praising Peresvet, the russian article outlines other countries’ developments in this field as if they were still in their infancy. For example, it says the British Dragon Fire and Israeli Iron Feast are far from being completed, and China is vaguely said to be “working on it.”
Though in practice, speaking of China, this technology might well be head and shoulders above the russian counterpart, and more successful in the market, too. In the summer–fall of 2022, Saudi Arabia bought a Chinese Silent Hunter laser system. Although this one is designed to counter small-sized drones, not satellites, it proved 100% effective against Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munitions in operations against Yemen’s Houthis.
Earlier News Hub also covered another laser weapon that russians hope can help against UAVs deployed by NATO, namely the A-60 airborne system made out of an Il-76 aircraft.