Aerospace

Su-57 fifth-generation fighter equipped with laser turrets to blind enemy

A system of controlled counteraction to infrared weapons is a new technology which can save the life of the pilot and the fighter jet itself.

Like other fifth-generation fighter aircraft, for example, the F-22 Raptor, the hull of the Russian fighter is equipped with a missile attack warning system. Yet, in addition to pure attack detection, the Russian aircraft also has special turrets designed to "blind" the infrared homing head of enemy's missile. The technology uses the laser beam for the purpose. This difference between the Su-57 and the F-22 gives the Russian fighter an obvious advantage both in air combat and in overcoming enemy air defenses.

Laser turrets sit behind the pilot's cockpit in the upper part of the fuselage and beneath it. Russian designers created compact laser emitters on trainable turrets.