Russian soldiers attaching missile to jet
© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
The Russian Defense Ministry is due to get a sophisticated mobile laser system capable of "blinding" aircraft optics and laser GPS-guided bombs and missiles from dozens of kilometers away, according to the Russian newspaper Izvestia.

A state-of the-art mobile laser system will enter service with the Russian Armed Forces in the near future, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported.

The system can "blind" the optics arrays of enemy warplanes, helicopters as well as laser GPS-guided bombs and missiles that are dozens of kilometers away, according to the newspaper.

Additionally, it can counteract the optoelectronic systems of armored vehicles and tanks, as well as the hind sights of anti-tank missile systems.

Thanks to its small size, the mobile laser array can be easily mounted on combat vehicles and armored cars, the newspaper said.

Its principle of operation is simple enough: a multi-channel laser beam is directed at the detected optical system and "dazzles" it, Izvestia quoted several well-informed military sources as saying.

The system includes several laser emitters which is why it can simultaneously grapple with a large number of targets or concentrate on a single object.

Developed by the Russian research and production association Astrofizika (Astrophysics), the system is already undergoing a number of tests, the sources said.

"Currently, the system is in a high state of readiness," one of the sources said, without elaborating.