Self-propelled laser system 1K17 Szhatie

The 1K17 Szhatie (Russian: 1К17 Сжатие — "Compression") is a self-propelled

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

vehicle of Soviet origin. The platform uses a

Msta-S The 2S19 Msta (russian: Мста, after the Msta River) is a 152.4 mm self-propelled howitzer designed by the Soviet Union, which entered service in 1989 as the successor to the 2S3 Akatsiya. The vehicle has the running gear of the T-80, b ...

chassis with a battery of laser projectors mounted in the turret. It was developed by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in order to disable the optical-electronic equipment of enemy missiles, ground and aerial vehicles.

History

The 1K17 Szhatie was developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Although the Soviet Union attempted to keep the plans secret, the Pentagon managed to obtain drawings from defectors. Western intelligence services code named it the Stiletto. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the development of the Szhatie was abandoned, as the development and manufacturing of the laser projection system had become too expensive and unnecessary. Two of these "tanks" were tested, with one being scrapped and the other being displayed in the Army Technology Museum near Moscow, but without its laser projector.

Design

The "tank" used an intense laser beam to disable the optical-electronic equipment of the enemy vehicles. This was created by focusing light through 30 kg of artificial rubies which made the whole system very expensive to produce. The optics that produced the laser were placed at the end of a silver coated spiral which helped amplify the beam and increase convergence. The energy to power the laser was provided by a generator and an auxiliary battery system. The lenses themselves were able to operate in different environments by moving metal caps closer to protect the lens. It was also equipped with a 12.7mm

NSV machine gun The NSV (Russian НСВ Никитина-Соколова-Волкова), also known as the «Utyos» (Project: ''Lonely Cliff''), is a 12.7mm caliber heavy machine gun of Soviet origin, named after the designers, G. I. Nikitin (Г. И. Ник� ...

to defend itself against attacks by infantry and air. A similar laser system was also developed around the same time named "Sangvin", which was based on the

ZSU-23-4 The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored Soviet self-propelled, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapon system ( SPAAG). Etymology The acronym "ZSU" stands for ''Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' (russian: Зенитная Самоходная Ус ...

self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.

Trivia

This vehicle has sparked a folk tale in Romania claiming that in 1968 the Romanian President

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

used "laser weapons" against the Russian tanks. It claims that after the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

Ceaușescu, after he received a telegram from the Foreign Ministry of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

stating that the country was a target for a large-scale attack, believed that Russia would invade Romania next, especially after squashing the

Prague spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

, so he ordered the deployment of Romanian troops to reinforce the border with the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and equipped them with the so called "laser weapons". There are no witnesses or evidence to support that this encounter was real or that such weapon ever existed.

References

External links

"Star Wars" Laser Machines of the Soviet PastSecret Laser Devices of the Soviet Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:1K17 Szhatie Cold War tanks of the Soviet Union Military lasers Abandoned military projects of the Soviet Union History of the tank