- DragonFire’s laser defense system has just been tested
- It can shoot down drones traveling at speeds of 400 miles per hour with incredible precision.
- With a signed contract worth $415m (£316m), she will be on board a British destroyer in 2027, with an operational program accelerating rapidly.
DragonFire, a new laser defense system, has been successfully tested in the UK and has proven its accuracy in shooting down even fast-moving drones. There is now a contract to supply the weapon to the Royal Navy.
IF Tom’s Hardware Reportstea The UK government has just announced this The $415 million contract with MBDA aims to ensure the Laser Guided Energy Weapon (LDEW) system is on board a Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer by 2027 (five years earlier than originally planned).
During recent tests of DragonFire at the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) site in the Hebrides, the laser was able to disable drones flying at speeds of up to 650 km/h (just over 400 miles per hour). The Ministry of Defense says that this LDEW can strike a pound coin (just smaller than a US quarter) from a distance of one kilometer, which is an incredible feat.
However, it’s not just a matter of accuracy, but also cost-effectiveness: the laser costs around £10 per shot (about $13). Compare this to the price of a missile to intercept a drone, which costs “hundreds of thousands of pounds per shot”, says the Ministry of Defence. And of course, if you look at the potential scale of drone strikes, this quickly becomes clear.
Secretary of State for Defense Industry and Preparedness Luke Pollard MP said: “With this powerful laser, our Royal Navy will be at the forefront of innovation within NATO, providing a game-changing capability to defend the UK and our allies in this new era of threats.”
DragonFire’s implementation contract will create around 590 jobs in the UK.
stress connection
The DragonFire tests were carried out by the UK Defense Science and Technology Laboratory in collaboration with MBDA, Leonardo and QinetiQ; The latter two are the partners who will work with MBDA to develop the system so that it is operational by 2027.
in one Press release from last yearMBDA said: “The UK DragonFire program brings together the best of UK industry. It builds on MBDA’s decades of experience in weapon system manufacturing, Leonardo’s position as a global authority in advanced laser, electro-optics and targeting technology, and QinetiQ’s experience as the only UK company to successfully and safely develop and operate high energy and energy combination lasers and energy sources in the UK.
Although only the ship’s initial capability has been confirmed, it is expected that more Type 45 destroyers (there are six of these daring air and missile defense vessels in the Royal Navy fleet) will receive DragonFire in the future after 2027.
Possible disadvantages of the laser system are weather conditions and possible atmospheric disturbances. The real test will be how the DragonFire performs in real-world conditions aboard the first fighter.
The other obvious caveat is the amount of power required for this LDEW, which limits DragonFire to installations where sufficient power is available, such as aboard a ship, as opposed to a more maneuverable land-based armored military vehicle, but more mobile deployments are expected at some point.
If we want to know what the power consumption of this laser is: a previous test at Porton Down in October 2022 used “powers of the order of 50 kW”. they told us.