The 12 most dangerous weapons in Russia’s armoury (With Pictures)

9. Laser Weaponry

Russia has been involved with secret laser weapons programs since the Soviet era. But since then, laser weapons research has been a subject of much secrecy in the Russian military. Although there is no concrete evidence of any current laser weapons programs, rumor has it that Russia’s military is restarting its old research that it began during the cold war on this subject.

In 1994, the Russians announced that they had tried to create a laser weapons system capable of bringing down enemy missiles, and although they had advanced laser technology considerably, they had discovered that lasers could not shoot down incoming missiles. Before that, the Russians were working on a CO2-based laser. But Russians admit that the technology has not advanced much since then.

There are a lot of problems with laser weapons, from power supply, excess heat, and many more. Russia does use laser weapons, just not in the way you’d expect. One system, called the Potok, is designed purely to blind the enemy rather than actually damaging them.