Media: Russia is developing an aircraft armed with laser weapons
Russia is working on an airplane with a new generation laser weapon, according to TASS, citing a source in the Russian defense-industrial complex. “We are working on a new generation of air-based lasers,” the source added, stating that they will be installed on the aircraft. The project is listed in public sources and can be found in the index under A-60.
Previously, the newspaper Izvestia (a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia) wrote that A-60 planned to convert the transport aircraft Il-76, which was based at the airfield factory at Taganrog city.
The project has been on-going since the 1970’s. In 2015, the Taganrog aviation scientific-technical complex published the order on the public procurement website and indicated the implementation of the development of the constituent parts for the ergonomic equipment for the A-60С aircraft.
On the 2nd of August, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that the Russian Army has adopted the individual samples of the laser weapons.
In 2014 the U.S. Army showed its laser gun in action, by hitting a target ship.