The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have hurried UK plans to install a laser weapon capable of destroying drones and missiles on Royal Navy warships by 2027.
The ‘DragonFire’ weapon has become a top priority for the British military as a result of the extensive use of drones in both Ukraine and the Middle East, signaling a shift in the way warfare is conducted.
It works by focusing 37 channels of 1.5kW laser beams, which are arranged in a hexagonal array, and combining them with mirrors to merge and amplify the power, in a physics phenomenon known as ‘constructive interference’.
Scientists at the UK’s Porton Down defence laboratory (DSTL) have brought the futuristic weapon from the laboratory to battlefield-ready with the help of industry experts in recent months, The Telegraph has reported.
British Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, during a visit to the DragonFire lab this week said that the new weapon could have “huge ramifications”.
The laser, which has been successfully tested, is capable of hitting a £1 coin from a kilometre away.
DragonFire 🔥 is a new laser being developer by @dstlmod for the 🇬🇧 military.
Watch its first high-power firing against an aerial target.
👇👇👇https://t.co/D5sqIciICS pic.twitter.com/oI1xG9sK87
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 11, 2024
Mr Shapps said that the UK intends to implement DragonFire as part of its arsenal by 2027, but would like to send early prototypes to Ukraine before then.
“I’m absolutely certain that what we’ve got going on here is very special, and a level that other countries are unlikely to be replicating because it’s so cutting-edge,” he said.
“The product itself is genuinely years ahead.”
Because the wavelength of the laser’s light is only one micron, its blasts are both invisible and silent. Trial uses of the weapon have destroyed drones and caused mortars to explode within five seconds.
The £10-a-shot laser will vastly reduce the cost of launching air defence missiles which can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
DragonFire travels at the speed of light, but its range is classified. Its intense beam is capable of turning the surface of metal into a 3,000C plasma and can burn through sheet metal, fuselage and weapons in seconds.