DragonFire: £10-a-shot laser weapon achieves UK first

A military laser that could give the UK military greater accuracy and reduce long-term costs has reached a testing milestone.

The DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) is a line-of-sight weapon and can engage with any visible target, according to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

The precision the military requires is equivalent to hitting a pound coin from a kilometre away.

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DragonFire achieved Britain's first high-power firing of a laser weapon against aerial targets during a trial at the MOD's Hebrides Range.

Laser-directed energy weapons can engage targets at the speed of light and cut through them with an intense beam of light.

This can cause structural failure or greater impacts if the warhead is targeted.

Dstl said firing it for 10 seconds incurs the equivalent cost of using a regular heater for an hour – potentially a long-term low-cost alternative for tasks currently carried out by missiles.

Its operating cost is typically less than £10 per shot.

The Royal Navy and British Army are considering using the technology as part of their future air defence capabilities, Dstl said.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: "This type of cutting-edge weaponry has the potential to revolutionise the battlespace by reducing the reliance on expensive ammunition, while also lowering the risk of collateral damage.

"Investments with industry partners in advanced technologies like DragonFire are crucial in a highly contested world, helping us maintain the battle-winning edge and keep the nation safe."

The MOD recently announced its intention to fund a multimillion-pound programme to transition the technology from the research environment to the battlefield.

The MOD's Defence Science and Technology (DST) organisation and Strategic Programmes helped to sponsor the latest trial and ensure safety approval requirements were met.

Dstl chief executive Dr Paul Hollinshead said: "These trials have seen us take a huge step forward in realising the potential opportunities and understanding the threats posed by directed energy weapons.

"With our decades of knowledge, skills, and operational experience, Dstl's expertise is critical to helping the Armed forces prepare for the future."

The DragonFire weapon system has been made possible by a £100m joint investment by the Ministry of Defence and industry.

Companies are supporting highly-skilled UK jobs in new cutting-edge technology that can bring change to the UK's capability in LDEW systems, Dstl said.

In 2017, the MOD's Chief Scientific Advisor’s Research Programme awarded a £30m contract to the DragonFire consortium to show the potential of LDEWs.

DST director Dr Nick Joad said: "This is a really innovative application of science and engineering and is the fruit of sustained investment and effort.

"DragonFire uses cutting-edge science and technology and delivers much greater performance than other systems of a similar class. DragonFire provides a step change in our ability to deal with high-performance and low-cost threats."

Shimon Fhima, Director Strategic Programmes for the MOD, said: "The DragonFire trials at the Hebrides demonstrated that our world-leading technology can track and engage high-end effects at range.

"In a world of evolving threats we know that our focus must be on getting capability to the warfighter and we will look to accelerate this next phase of activity."