Test of new laser weapon on board Type 23 frigates will not go ahead, minister reveals
Plans to test a new laser Directed Energy Weapon aboard Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates have been stopped, a minister has announced.
Tests with the laser were expected to have been carried out on board the frigates, however, James Cartlidge said the seaborne project would be put on hold for the time being.
Despite the pause on these recent tests, the Royal Navy will continue testing Directed Energy Weapons aboard their ships in the future.
Mr Cartlidge's comments came in a Parliamentary written reply to shadow defence secretary John Healey, who had asked him when the test of the laser on board a frigate would be taking place.
Mr Cartlidge said: "The Ministry of Defence announced three Directed Energy Weapons Capability Demonstrator contracts in 2021, which were designed to increase knowledge and understanding in the military on how to operate, maintain and integrate Directed Energy Weapons onto complex platforms to inform future capability decisions.
"These were ambitious projects in both time and scope, and the specific T23 demonstrator contract was concluded early in order to focus resource on the wider Directed Energy Weapons Programme, as outlined in the Integrated Review Refresh 2023.
"Live firing will be conducted from the land-based demonstrators in 2024, which will also inform Navy Programmes."
Earlier this month, the MOD announced that a milestone was reached in the testing of a new laser weapon known as the DragonFire.
The DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapon 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.
The creation of the DragonFire is the first time Britain has produced a high-power laser weapon to neutralise aerial targets.
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