The Russian Government has unveiled a powerful new laser weapon which can take down targets 'within fractions of second' during a war battle.

According to the country's government, the space age laser, named the Peresvet after a sixteenth-century Russian warrior monk, is already being deployed and used by Russia's armed forces.

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Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told his ministry's newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on Monday that the machine can 'take down targets within fractions of a second'.

'We can talk a lot about laser weapons and movies were made about them a long time ago and fantastic books have been written, and everyone knows about this,' Borisov said.

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'But the fact that these systems have started entering service is indeed today's reality.'

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The laser systems have since been entering service that allow disarming a potential adversary and hitting those facilities, which are the targets,' he added, saying such a device could take out targets 'within fractions of a second.'

See video below.