One shot from the new Russian laser air defense system is incomparably cheaper than launching a classic anti-aircraft missile. Design engineer Alexey Frolov spoke about the cost-effectiveness of the complex.
He reminded that laser systems affect the target with directed radiation, and do not launch a missile or projectile at it. He called the price of a "shot" very low.
The power of Russian laser installations varies from 4 to 90 kW. Let's take the most expensive cost of 1 kW - 10 rubles. Even if 1 laser shot consumes all 90 kW at once. That's 900 rubles.
Frolov stipulated that laser air defense has a serious problem - beam scattering. It depends not only on the generator's power, but also on weather conditions.
From "Pervy Tekhnichesky":
However, Frolov's words raise questions. He multiplies the power in kilowatts by a tariff of 10 rubles, but the tariff is measured in rubles per kWh, not per kilowatt. To get the cost of a shot, you need to consider the laser's operating time.
If a 90 kW laser operates for 5 seconds, it consumes about 0.125 kWh. At a tariff of 10 rubles per kWh, this is approximately 1.25 rubles. The figure of 900 rubles corresponds to an hour of continuous operation - not one shot at a drone.
According to open sources, the cost of a standard 57E6E missile for the Pantsir-S1 complex is about 18.4 million rubles. According to Frolov's calculation, the difference with the laser is 20 thousand times, but with the correct figure of 1.25 rubles, it is approximately 15 million times.
There is also a cheaper option - the small-sized TKB-1055 missile. According to some data, it costs less than 1.84 million rubles. Then, with it, the difference with the same laser shot is about 1.5 million times.
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