Recent tests of the DragonFire directed energy weapon (DEW) saw the laser fire more than 300 times and disable 30 drones, a U.K. defence minister has revealed.
The Dragonfire DEW is being developed by a consortium including Qinetiq, MBDA and Leonardo UK in conjunction with U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) research and development arm the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl).
There are plans to fit the DragonFire system to four Daring-class Royal Navy destroyers by 2027 as a counter-UAS measure; an extra £1 billion investment in DEW was announced as part of the Government’s recent Strategic Defence Review (SDR).
A recent official tender notice also revealed plans to spend £240 million on the first two DragonFire systems, beginning in November this year.
U.K. Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry Maria Eagle gave details of the recent tests in a written response to a Parliamentary question tabled by Conservative MP for South Suffolk and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence James Cartlidge.
Asked about progress being made on laser weapons, she replied: “We recently completed a trial of a radio frequency DEW demonstrator with the British Army, successfully engaging and defeating drones.
“DragonFire continues to progress and a recent trial saw us fire +300 times, proving consistency and reliability, and included 30 drone defeats and firings in adverse weather conditions.”
It’s unclear at this stage whether this test was land- or sea-based; challenges of firing laser weapons at sea include the instability of the platform in rough seas, and environmental conditions such as fog, spray, and high humidity potentially degrading the laser beam’s range and focus.
- You can read the full question and answer on the UK Parliament website and the DragonFire tender details on the UK Government website