The DragonFire system during a test. (The UK Ministry of Defence)
The DragonFire laser directed-energy weapon (LDEW) weapon being developed for the British military could have “huge ramifications” for the conflict in Europe, United Kingdom Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said on April 11.
The LDEW could be rushed to the front line in Ukraine to take down Russian drones, according to Shapps, who noted that the laser was originally set to be rolled out in 2032, but new reforms aimed at speeding up procurement mean it will be operational five years earlier.
During a visit to the Porton Down military research hub in Salisbury, Shapps told reporters that he would look to see if the pace could be increased even further “in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it”.
“I’ve come down to speed up the production of the DragonFire laser system because I think, given that there’s two big conflicts on, one sea-based, one in Europe, this could have huge ramifications to have a weapon capable particularly of taking down drones,” the Defense Secretary said.
“And so what I want to do is speed up what would usually be a very lengthy development procurement process, possibly up to 10 years, based on my conversations this morning, to a much shorter time frame to get it deployed, potentially on ships, incoming drones, and potentially on land. Again, incoming drones, but it doesn’t take much imagination to see how that could be helpful in Ukraine for example.” he added.
The laser is being developed by UK DragonFire, a collaboration consisting of MBDA UK, Leonardo UK, QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
DragonFire uses UK-pioneered beam-combining technology to deliver a laser beam with increased power density, reduced defeat times and increased effective range.
The LDEW and its associated targeting systems, including an electro-optical camera and second lower-power laser for imaging and tracking, are mounted to a turret. The laser is reportedly in the 50 kW class and is designed to defend land and maritime targets from threats such as missiles and mortars.
The British plan to deliver the DragonFire to Ukraine, which is struggling to operate and maintain less complex missile air defense systems, is very ambitious to say the least.
Shapps’s promise may be more of a propaganda meant to boost the morale of the Kiev regime, which recently sustained heavy losses as a result of Russian missile and drone strikes. The regime made several pleas to its allies to boost its depleted air defenses in the last few weeks to no avail.
Even if delivered, DragonFire will not likely make any difference as the Russian military will be able to attack it as it did with all other Western “Wunderwaffes” supplied to Ukraine after the start of the Russian special military operation.
It’s worth noting that the Russian already has a similar LDEW in service, the Peresvet. The laser system is said to be capable of air defense and anti-satellite warfare with a range of 1,500 kilometers. A more powerful version, dubbed Zadira, was reportedly tested against Kiev forces.
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