Russia is amping up with a laser 'Super Dazzlers' capable of blinding US and allied satellites as space counter-punch. Disabling these space assets will compound the capability of the US to respond less when they are busted.
Russian Dominates Space Technology With New Laser System
At a Russian space facility, Moscow is now building an advanced laser system called Kalina, designed to blind enemy satellites, The EurAsian Times reported.
The existence of this system was originally reported in the Space Review report in recent satellite pictures. The platform examined satellite imagery, papers from Russian industrial contractors, and financial data.
Krona space complex, located near Zelenchukskaya in far-southwestern Russia, is where this system is being built. The huge RATAN-600 radio telescope is housed at this space complex.
The report described the development of a Kalina project, referred to in the financial documentation as a laser system. This technology is utilized in "electro-optical warfare," which uses laser pulses that are too intense to destroy optical sensors to permanently blind hostile satellites.
It is distinct from other lasers known as "dazzlers," which are solely intended to momentarily blind optical systems, according to Space.com. Despite being started in 2011, the project experienced significant setbacks.
The most recent reports say the Kalina dazzler is currently being constructed at a Russian Ministry of Defense space surveillance station. This station has lidar or light detection and ranging as well as radar devices for identifying targets for space telescopes.
Such a laser system reportedly incorporates a separate tracking system with adaptive optics to assist it in better limiting atmospheric disturbance, according to Russian patent and procurement records.
Moscow is investing in laser 'Super Dazzlers' in effect to have a powerful weapon ready to start blinding enemy satellites soon.
Russia's New Laser Blinds US and Allied Satellites
To precisely aim directly at the optical systems on its target item, the laser contains a transmit-receive system that measures laser light reflected from its target.
Based on the article, it is one of three laser dazzlers that Russia is constructing for use against satellites. Sokol-Echelon, an aerial system that has been developing since 2001, is currently unknown.
Peresvet, also known internally as Stuzha-RN or 14Ts034, is different in that it can deploy with mobile ICBM units. This truck-mounted laser technology prevents enemy satellites used for reconnaissance from following their movements.
Along with these three, the deployment of Zadira, new Russian laser technology to battle drones, in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has garnered media attention.
Yury Borisov, Russia's deputy prime minister, recently asserted that Moscow had used its "state-of-the-art" laser weapon system, "Peresvet," to combat drones. He continued by saying that the country had also used Zadira, a more potent laser weapon, for the same purpose. This laser's advancement is consistent with an increase in anti-satellite operations.
In 2021, General David D Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations for the US Space Force, told The Washington Post that American satellites are being attacked "every single day" and that the US is at a place now where there's a whole host of ways that our space systems might be threatened.
Elon Musk said in a May 2022 article that Russia had increased its efforts to disrupt and jam the signals from SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites. Russia wants to beat the US and its allies and will take out space assets.
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