A-60

Work on the 1A product has been carried out since the mid-1970s on the production and technical base of the Taganrog Design Bureau of Beriev and the G. Dimitrov Plant , the main partner was Almaz Central Design Bureau , headed by B.V. Bunkin .

In order to accommodate the laser system, the basic design of the IL-76 has undergone some major changes:

• In the bow, instead of the standard meteorological radar, a fairing is installed with special equipment (guidance laser).
• The top of the fuselage between the wing and the keel was cut out and replaced with huge flaps hiding the turret with the main laser.
• On the sides of the fuselage under the fairings were located turbogenerators of the power system for the operation of a special complex.
• Turbogenerators were installed on the sides of the bow, as on the Il-76PP.
• The aft doors of the cargo compartment were removed, the ramp had to be left as the supporting element of the fuselage.
• It was originally decided to place the laser gun: in order not to spoil the aerodynamics of the aircraft with another fairing, the laser optical head was made retractable.

The first flight was performed by the 1A flying laboratory on August 19, 1981, and the second 1A2 aircraft (USSR-86879) on August 29, 1991 . The first “1A” machine, according to some sources, burned down in June 1986 at the Chkalovsky airfield during laser tests ^[3] . The second 1A2 was later used as a transport aircraft; in 2012, information appeared on a project for its modernization.

Work on the flying laboratory "1A2" to improve and modify the special complex and its systems continues to the present. The chief designer - Deputy General Designer of TANTK on this topic is N. A. Stepanov.

1LK222 - an air-based laser system to counter the space echelon of the US national missile defense is based at the Pushkin airfield (St. Petersburg). Work on the project is ongoing. N. A. Stepanov was appointed the chief designer of “product 1A” (from 2002 - Deputy General Director, from 2007 to the present, Deputy General Designer of “G. M. Beriev TANTK”).

On August 28, 2009, a comprehensive experiment was carried out in which a reflected signal was recorded when a laser beam was directed from the board of an A-60 flying laboratory to a spacecraft with a flight altitude of 1,500 km.

In 2010, new information appeared on the continuation of work on the military aviation laser system ^[1] ; in 2011, work on this project was suspended, due to lack of funding, equipment from the A-60 was partially dismantled ^[4] .

In 2012 , the Russian Ministry of Defense ordered the defense industry to resume work on creating combat lasers capable of hitting planes, satellites and ballistic missiles, funding was resumed. TANTK them. Beriev resumed work on the flying laboratory A-60, the aircraft will undergo a complete modernization. Tests of the system, called the Falcon-Echelon , are scheduled for late 2013 ^[4] . Work on the modernization of “1A2” was carried out by the forces of the Almaz-Antey air defense group and the Voronezh design bureau Khimprom-Avtomatika ^[5] , however, as of the beginning of 2015, the situation remained unclear ^[3] .

In 2016, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed information that it continues to work on a military aviation laser system ; deputy Minister of Defense of Russia announced the adoption of certain types of laser weapons, but he didn’t specify which ones. ^[6] According to information from the end of 2018, work on a system for combating enemy satellites is underway ^[7] .

• Laser complex "Terra"
• Skif-DM

• Photo A-60 RA-86879 // Ukrainian spotter site Airport Terminal
• A-60 // brazd.ru
• A-60 on the site "Corner of the sky"
• Gas-dynamic CO2 - laser (GDL) RD0600 on the KBHA website
• Laser technology NPO Almaz , on the website Almaz-Antey (GSKB)