Laser pumped infantry
The last decades have been characterized by the acceleration of scientific and technological progress, which directly influences the creation of such types of VVST, which threaten the very existence of man as a biological species.
Civilization began to realize that it can wait. The troubles she faces tomorrow scare more than those that are likely today. But despite this, large-scale research is being conducted aimed at creating weapons that, as a result of even one-time use, can lead to mass destruction of people.
In this regard, the actions of the leadership of Russia are quite logical, aimed at strengthening the defense capability to a level that guarantees an exhaustive response to aggressive challenges. Many in the West considered that if we once stopped the development of advanced weapons based on the principle of humanism and reducing the level of military confrontation, we are no longer able to resume their production and hopelessly lag behind in creating systems based on new physical principles.
The euphoria that struck the authorities of Western countries, who believed in their impunity and hoped that there would be no retaliatory measures, was dangerous and could lead to a massive death of peoples. Russia, having a powerful intellectual potential and advanced scientific base, is able to quickly create unconventional weapons based on new physical principles. In particular, directional energy, radiation, electromagnetic, beam, infrasound, radio frequency, annihilation. The latter, for example, may involve in the reaction the surrounding world and a wave of processes of division and synthesis of a substance constituting the habitat of biological species will sweep across the planet. It is appropriate to say about weapons of mass destruction based on new physical principles. It is a consequence of the creation of nuclear weapons analogues, which, when activated, produce a single damaging factor: penetrating radiation, light radiation, shock wave, electromagnetic radiation, induced radiation.
The US has long been working on models based on new physical principles, and some species have already been adopted.
Broken "Stiletto"
In the 60 – 70-ies in the USSR, neutron ammunition was created for artillery of a caliber 203 of millimeter and air defense missile systems. In the explosion energy 80 percent were fast neutrons. 20 percent went into the shock wave and light radiation. One kiloton ammunition within a radius of up to 2,5 kilometer defeated enemy personnel, disabled electronic devices, and created high levels of induced radiation. But it was most effective when triggered in the upper atmosphere and outer space. If during an explosion in the air, the flux of fast neutrons weakened as a result of interaction with the environment, then in space, without encountering obstacles, neutrons can spread over long distances and, penetrating unhindered into nuclear warheads, can cause a chain reaction without a critical mass.
Work has been done on the creation of non-nuclear electromagnetic emitters. They have been improving for many years, but since the elements of this weapon are a high-tech war with extensive use of electronics, it has to wait in the wings.
An important direction of development has become a beam weapon. Its striking effect is based on the use of directed pulses of electromagnetic energy or a concentrated beam of elementary particles. The radiation effect is generated by a set of devices that receive energy from external sources.
One of the types of beam weapons - beam (accelerator). Its striking element is a high-precision, highly directional beam of electrons, protons, and neutral hydrogen atoms that are accelerated to high speeds. Objects of destruction can be artificial satellites of the Earth, ballistic and cruise missiles of various types, ground combat equipment. The electronic means of the enemy will also be vulnerable, the possibility of irradiation of manpower is not excluded.
Another type of beam weapon is lasers. It can be powerful quantum generators in the visible, infrared, ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. The damaging effect is achieved as a result of heating to high temperatures of the object until it melts, and in some cases - evaporation, damage to the supersensitive elements, organs of vision, skin. The action of the laser beam is different stealth (no external signs in the form of flashes, smoke, sound), high accuracy, almost instantaneous action.
The beginning of the creation of laser weapons refers to the 50-th years. Even then, large-scale tests of high-power devices were carried out as a means of directly hitting targets in the interests of strategic space-based, anti-missile defense. At the same time, work in this area was carried out under the Terra and Omega programs. As knowledge of the physical properties of the laser deepened, new directions of its use in the military sphere were opened.
For example, in the 60-ies created a blaster for Soviet astronauts, in 70-x - a laser rifle, designed to dazzle the soldiers, the thermal destruction of manpower, disabling the enemy's optical systems. Devices on this principle were widely used at the end of the twentieth century - for location, navigation, reconnaissance, communications, and in other areas. They occupied an important place in weapons control systems and targeting bombs, missiles, projectiles, and other striking elements. The enormous success of laser technology creates the conditions for the unprecedented development of new technologies.
In the Soviet years, the creation of an autonomous laser gun was practiced, its tests were conducted at sea - on an auxiliary tanker fleet Dixon. There is evidence of several test firing at coastal targets. After the collapse of the USSR, the ship went to the Ukrainian Navy and its fate is unknown. It can be assumed that in the USA, work on the creation of a sea-based laser gun began precisely after the transfer of the tanker to Ukrainian jurisdiction.
In the USSR, they also worked on the creation of a Skif spacecraft capable of carrying a laser gun and providing it with energy in abundance. The 80-ton vehicle was the prototype of a space fighter capable of being in orbit for as long as possible and destined to destroy enemy satellites. The previous type of “Flight” type could hit only one space object and after that it self-destructed. The program was closed by the decision of Gorbachev. "Skiff" put into orbit the launch vehicle "Energy" only to drop it from there for burning in dense layers of the atmosphere.
The next after Skif was the Stiletto project. On it were going to install the onboard special complex (BSK) 1K11, developed by the NGO Astrophysics. This is a variant of the ground-based complex “Stilet” - a ten-station installation of infrared lasers operating at a wavelength of 1,06 nanometer, already adopted for service. All these developments stopped at the final stage of R & D. But as far as we know, the documentation is intact, the existing groundwork will, if necessary, allow in the shortest possible time to bring lasers of this type to standard and introduce them into the troops.
In America, the missile defense program creates powerful chemical lasers for placement on Boeing 747 aircraft and space platforms. By the way, they use developments made by Soviet scientists and transferred to the United States at the beginning of the 90s on the orders of Yeltsin.
In the future, the Ground Forces will get more advanced lasers, both wearable and portable, with improved combat performance. Blasters and rifles will be smaller. By the way, they belong to non-lethal means and are divided into impulse and continuous action.
It must be assumed that for a wearable laser weapon a working body will be created as a capacitor capable of accumulating absorbed energy and supporting the atoms of the working medium at the threshold of inversion in order to activate the stimulated emission mechanism. It is enough to pass a current through the working medium by closing the electrical circuit by pressing a button. In fact, for each pulse will be its own cartridge. Laser recharging will be a purely technical, easily solvable operation. In addition, in theory, the pumping period of the working fluid will be excluded and a powerful power source will not be required.
Blinding sight
Airborne combat laser systems are designed and built for a long time. At the beginning of the 80-x, sighting platoons equipped with BMP-1 with AB-1 laser equipment were introduced into the divisional states. Their main purpose is to disable the optics installed on the armored facilities and anti-tank complexes of the enemy, as well as partial blinding of operators and gunners. In 1992, the “Squeezing” system was adopted, it was placed in the Msta-S self-propelled gun system. This laser complex automatically determined the position of the glare objects and suppressed them.
The mass introduction of lasers into the battle formations of units and units of the Ground Forces is hindered by the fact that BBMs are not equipped with high-power electric generators. Traditional thinking does not allow a decisive step. We have been running the layout for years. tank, but so far there is no intelligible explanation for what combat tasks in modern conditions such an expensive equipment is created. Of course, in the defense and fire support of the troops in front, in the development of the offensive in the depths of the enemy’s orders, the same “Armata” will look worthy. But we must also measure the possibilities of the European economy and our industry for the production of military equipment to make up for losses. The conclusion is simple: the army needs a machine with an expanded set of portable weapons, with autonomous control of each model. This will allow the fight against several armored objects simultaneously.
There were proposals to create a tank-infantry fire complex (TPCS), combining the capabilities of the OBT and BMP. It can be built-in generator power 750 kilowatts, which will allow in the future to install an electromagnetic gun and a laser machine on a combat vehicle. The idea has critics. Let them offer how otherwise to massively introduce into the battle formations of troops that are in direct contact with the enemy laser installations. In addition to blinding an object, the use of a TPC will “cut off” attachments from an enemy tank, heat the locations of the fuel tanks in order to cause a fuel to ignite. Using a laser, you can initiate the undermining of dynamic protection blocks.
And now let's imagine a company armed with 10 tank and electromagnetic guns, laser systems, and estimate the combat potential of this military unit. So in what direction to develop? The answer is obvious.
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