Four destroyers set to get DragonFire laser weapons - Navy debating which ones
Four Royal Navy warships are set to be kitted out with laser weaponry thanks to £2.2bn of defence funding, the Armed Forces Minister has announced.
In an interview with BFBS Forces News, Luke Pollard said while he could not confirm which ships would be getting DragonFire, the plan is in place to have them using the weapon by 2027.
"Directed energy weapons are one of those novel and advanced technologies that we want to see on more of our ships," he said.
"Previously, we inherited an unfunded plan for a single destroyer to get the DragonFire system, and we're now announcing today a fully funded plan to put them on four of our destroyers.
"The work on which destroyers precisely is being worked through by the Navy at the moment, but this is a massive boost for the defensive posture of our Royal Navy fleet."
Laser-directed energy weapons like DragonFire use an intense light beam to cut through their target and can strike at the speed of light.
BFBS Forces News previously visited Porton Down military lab in Salisbury to see what remained of a drone after facing DragonFire.
It had been left badly scorched and melted as a result of DragonFire, with clear cracks visible in its shell.
Other items that faced the fury of DragonFire were shown by Dstl at Porton Down, with a mortar bomb facing a similar fate to the drone.
It was not just DragonFire Mr Pollard announced, with the Armed Forces Minister also outlining plans to invest in the MOD estate, including housing.
"For far too long, our military families have been living in poor, substandard accommodation," he said.
"It's something that the Defence Secretary and myself feel is completely unacceptable.
"That's why we're using part of the additional funding that the Chancellor is announcing today to make sure that we're starting work on upgrading the homes that we've now brought back.
"Thirty-six thousand homes brought back into public sector control from that botched privatisation, to make sure we can invest in decent homes for all those who serve."
What will this look like though? Well Mr Pollard said the MOD wants there to be "concrete improvements for those people who serve".
"That's why the extra money that we're announcing today will be directed towards not just the site surveys, the initial preparation work, but the work to improve service families," he said.
"We're prioritising damp and mould because we know that is such a problem across our estate.
"We want that work to begin as soon as the funding is available. This money will kick in in a matter of weeks and so we know that work will begin very shortly."
Mr Pollard also outlined that the MOD is attempting to be more efficient while increasing spending on all these areas, with Defence Secretary John Healey leading defence reform.
"If you look only at defence procurement, we know it takes too long and is too expensive to order the kits and equipment our forces need," he said.
"That's why we're making huge improvements with a new national armaments director and an accelerated procurement that will come out when the Defence Industrial Strategy is published shortly."
But he said the Government wants the savings to be "pushed to the frontline", in both resources to fight with and facilities to live within.
"That's the change that we're delivering," he added.
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