Sokol-Eshelon (russian: Сокол-Эшелон, lit=Falcon-Echelon) is a Soviet/Russian
laser weapon–based
anti-satellite system. It is an airborne laser based on a
Beriev A-60 aircraft. In 2012 it was reported that the project is back under development and is intended for the
Russian Aerospace Defence Forces and later the
Russian Aerospace Forces
The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces ( rus, Воздушно-космические силы, r=Vozdushno-kosmicheskiye sily) or VKS ( rus, ВКС}) comprise the air and space branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Fe ...
once completed.
A-60
The Beriev A-60 aircraft is a laser research plane produced by
Beriev based on their
Il-76 transport. Development seems to have started in 1981 with the laser installed in 1983. A second plane was built in 1991. The plane contains a special nose cone with a laser targeting system.
Sokol-Eshelon
The Sokol Eshelon project started in 2003 and was first made public in the annual report of contractor Khimpromavtomatika in 2005. Other mentions include
Almaz-Antey
JSC Concern VKO "Almaz-Antey" (russian: link=no, ОАО "Концерн ВКО "Алмаз-Антей"») is a Russian state-owned company in the arms industry, a result of a merger of Antey Corporation and NPO Almaz, unifying some of the nat ...
's annual report in 2006 and in a report by
Radiofizika in 2009 where they mentioned their development of radar for the plane. Details also emerged due to a court case between Almaz-Antey and Beriev over payments to a subcontractor. The contract between the two parties was connected to a contract no. 5933 Almaz-Antey holds with military unit 21055. This contract is supervised by the Ministry of Defence's 27th Military Representative Office. The project seems to be known under the codename Duelyant (russian: Дуэлянт, lit=Duelist, links=no).
In 2009 the plane was involved in a test to illuminate
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese satellite
AJISAI which was at an orbital height of 1,500 km. The test involved seeing if a reflection of the laser off the satellite could be picked up, and wasn't intended to damage the satellite.
The laser has been given the codename 1LK222. The purpose of the laser is to blind the sensors of enemy satellites rather than destroy them.
See also
Related development:
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Beriev A-60
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Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a comm ...
Comparable systems:
*
Boeing NC-135
*
Boeing YAL-1
The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system was a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified military Boeing 747-400F. It was primarily designed as a missile defense syste ...
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
2010s Russian military aircraft
Space weapons
Military lasers