Vladimir Putin is close to adding satellite busting lasers to his arsenal of weapons.
The Kremlin has been developing technology capable of blinding orbiting platforms collecting intelligence overhead for decades.
Since 2019 Putin’s generals have been able to call on mobile unit Peresvet to obscure its secret plans on the planet below.
Now it is set to add a new laser system known as Kalina to its weaponry options.
A report by the Space Review said: “There is strong evidence that a space surveillance complex in Russia ’s northern Caucasus is being outfitted with a new laser system called Kalina that will target optical systems of foreign imaging satellites flying over Russian territory.
“Initiated in 2011, the project has suffered numerous delays, but recent Google Earth imagery shows that construction is now well underway.
“Its existence can only be inferred from a number of online procurement and court documents, which in turn make it possible to find several technical publications that are most likely related to the project.”
Imagery from Google Maps showed construction work getting underway in 2019 and by 2020 work was well underway.
Once ready, Kalina will be aimed at passing spy satellites for hundreds of miles.
Owing to its beams it would shield a massive area of 40,000 square miles.
Its dazzling displays will be able to hide what is going on down below on the planet surface.
The technology will mean Putin’s enemies will have no idea of what is going on in Russia or on the battlefields of Ukraine.
Yury Borisov, deputy premier in charge of military development, previously boasted the Kremlin’s new laser weapons are the weapons of the future.
He said laser weapons, electromagnetic broadband weapons, will replace [conventional weapons] in the coming decades.
He added: “We will define our Armed Forces’ combat readiness in the future.”
It comes after terrifying footage showed the moment a Russian ‘Orlan-10’ drone took to the sky and dropped bombs on a target in the Donbas region.
The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) claims the Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used to assist civilians allegedly being used as a human shield, as well as carry out reconnaissance operations to find Ukrainian ammo depots and military bases.
The footage shows Russian troops loading one Orlan-10 UAV with missiles before it takes to the sky and bombs targets in a field.
