DragonFire: New footage of £10-a-shot laser weapon that could be in UK military in five years
A military laser that is super-accurate and costs only £10 per shot could be ready for use by the Armed Forces within the next five years.
The DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) is a line-of-sight weapon that can engage any visible target, according to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
It destroys targets with an intense beam of light and has pinpoint precision, being able to hit an object the size of a £1 coin from a kilometre away.
DragonFire could be used on land or sea and would remove the reliance on high-cost ammunition.
Ben Maddison from Dstl said: "We've been talking about the cost of firing a laser weapon to be £10 a shot.
"Really, all we're talking about is the cost of the energy that you need to fire the laser weapon, obviously once you've got the system in place.
"That compares very favourably with missiles which might be thousands, or tens of thousands, or even more per single shot."
Footage released by the MOD, in the clip above, is shot in the Hebrides where the weapon was tested.
In the black and white video, a target-destroying bright beam of light shoots up towards the sky.
Scientists say DragonFire has proved itself during testing and has the potential to transform the UK's defence capability.
Mr Maddison added: "Drones are a really good example of the kinds of target that a laser weapon would be very effective against, and certainly in our demonstrations, drones are one of the targets that we've successfully engaged on a number of occasions at really useful ranges."
Britain isn't alone in developing this technology and forces around the world are aware of the advantages it presents.
Israel, for example, has Iron Beam, which is designed to destroy short-range objects that are too close for its Iron Dome system to engage.
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