After demonstrable success at the beginning of 2024, the UK Ministry of Defence announced its intention to install DragonFire on its surface combatants.
John Hill April 12, 2024
Following the successful demonstration of the UK’s new DragonFire laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) system earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the programme will accelerate to be installed on Royal Navy (RN) ships.
The next stages of this development will include further live firings and the manufacture and installation of weapon systems onto RN platforms.
DragonFire was manufactured by a trilateral industrial partnership of Britain’s foremost defence suppliers: MBDA UK, Leonardo UK and QinetiQ.
The first successful demonstration took place at the MoD’s Hebrides range off the north-west coast of Scotland in January. These test firings were the culmination of several years of work, with the programme unveiled in 2017.
With the new security climate jolting nations into stockpiling munitions, DragonFire provides a highly cost-effective alternative. While the programme cost the MoD £100m ($125m), the Government noted that the cost of operating the laser is typically less than £10 per shot.
See Also:
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- New USCG Heritage-class cutters retain propulsion system from Stage 1 ships
Following years of research and development, LDEWs are now rapidly transitioning from the sphere of experimental technologies to the actual battlefield as they reach a sufficient level of maturity to warrant deployment.
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