Peresvet combat duty and new capabilities of the Strategic Missile Forces
The Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, announced the start of the service of promising Peresvet laser systems. This product completed the stage of pilot combat duty and switched to full combat duty. As reported, the task of "Relight" is to ensure the operation of mobile soil complexes of strategic missile forces.
Stages of the journey
The existence of a laser complex, later known as Peresvet, was announced on March 1, 2018 by President Vladimir Putin. Together with the laser complex announced several other types of weapons. Subsequently, Peresvet was repeatedly mentioned in various reports, but new details were not received.
In December last year, the country's leadership announced the beginning of pilot combat duty. Such problems were solved by Peresvet from December 1, but no details were provided. The bulk of the data is still not disclosed.
On February 20, 2019, the president again raised the topic of combat lasers. According to him, it was planned to transfer all the "Relight" troops to the troops to full combat duty in December.
On December 18, General Gerasimov at a briefing with the participation of military attaches of foreign countries revealed new data on "Relight". According to him, since the beginning of December such complexes have been on combat duty. The equipment is deployed in positional areas of the PGRK. The task of combat lasers is to cover the maneuvering actions of missile systems.
Thus, for the first time at the official level, the mission and features of the latest domestic development were revealed. Statements by the Chief of the General Staff remove a number of questions and confirm some of the previously expressed versions.
Goals and objectives
The purpose, goals and objectives, as well as future operators of the Peresvet complex, remained unknown until recently. It is now clear that this system was developed in the interests of the Strategic Missile Forces. Its task is to ensure the duty of mobile soil rocket systems located in positional areas. It can be assumed how exactly such problems should be solved.
Since the first reports on the existence of "Relight" the most popular version, according to which this complex is intended for the implementation of air defense. Depending on the characteristics of the laser emitter, it could damage air targets or "blind" their optics. The most daring estimates also mentioned the possibility of combating enemy spacecraft, such as SPRN satellites.
Apparently, the version of the air defense system, built on new principles, turned out to be correct. It is this option of using a combat laser that is most useful in the context of ensuring PGRK duty.
Laser vs
Existing PGRK have a number of characteristic advantages and are characterized by increased combat stability. Due to this, they are a convenient and effective means to retaliate against the aggressor. However, such qualities make the mobile complex a priority goal. The enemy will make every effort to identify, detect and timely defeat PGRK.
To detect missile systems on patrol routes, various reconnaissance equipment can be used. It can be optical reconnaissance spacecraft, unmanned aerial vehicles or some types of manned aviation. In view of the characteristic features of position areas and patrol routes, optical reconnaissance equipment is of great importance.
Counteraction to air and space platforms with optics can be carried out in several ways. One of them is the use of combat lasers that can disrupt the operation of intelligence systems or destroy them. Now, such a niche in our army is occupied by the new Peresvet complex. His "skills" are now being used in the interests of the Strategic Missile Forces.
Based on this assumption and the available official data, we can imagine exactly what the combat alert of the laser complex looks like. A system consisting of several mobile units must arrive at a given position and deploy. The well-known type of Peresvet components shows that this complex cannot work in motion and needs a stationary position.
According to external target designation or using its own means, the complex must search for air or space targets and take them for independent tracking. Then, using high-power laser radiation, temporary or permanent incapacitation of the optics is carried out. With sufficient power, the laser can literally burn through the structural elements of the target with a fatal result.
As a result, the enemy cannot continue to explore the area and loses the ability to detect PGRK on patrol routes or at firing positions. Thanks to this, missile systems can continue to operate with minimal risk.
What reconnaissance means Peresvet can fight with is not clear. Apparently, the power of the laser with a margin is enough to "blind" air targets. Also, one cannot exclude its ability to damage their structure. The anti-satellite potential of the complex is in question.
Army needs
In the role of a duty watch, the Peresvet complexes interact with existing PGRK. In our Strategic Rocket Forces there are three types of such systems - Topol, Topol-M and Yars. Mobile soil systems are armed with eight missile divisions deployed in different regions.
Manning all compounds with laser systems and preparing positional areas will be associated with known difficulties and take a lot of time. First of all, significant quantities of serial laser systems are required - up to several dozen. They need to organize positions and ensure interaction with other components of the Strategic Missile Forces.
How many “Peresvet” and in what terms they want to receive missile forces is not known. Probably, such data will remain a mystery for a long time. Prior to their announcement, one will have to rely only on estimates and forecasts.
Principal novelty
Without exaggeration, it can be argued that this month a new era began in stories our armed forces. A promising model, using fundamentally new principles of work, took up combat duty. A novelty with wide capabilities - and classified characteristics - has found application in the most responsible direction, in the Strategic Missile Forces, and is now participating in strategic containment processes.
In the coming years, one should expect mass production of serial “Relights” and the gradual introduction of such equipment in the missile forces. It cannot be ruled out that the issues of using such equipment in other branches of the armed forces — with subsequent purchase and deployment to their armaments — will be worked out in parallel. However, even without this, already on the basis of the latter News from the Strategic Missile Forces we can talk about the successful completion of work and the introduction of a fundamentally new system.
- Ryabov Kirill
- Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
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