According to Business Insider on April 14, this laser weapon called DragonFire is expected to be deployed in 2027. However, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said he hopes the production process will be faster so that this weapon can be used on the Ukrainian frontline.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the secretive Porton Down military research centre in Salisbury, Mr Shapps said: "I came here to push for the speed up of the DragonFire laser system because I think there are two major conflicts going on, one at sea and one in Europe. This could have huge consequences, and there is a need for a special type of weapon to shoot down UAVs."
DragonFire Laser Weapon System
The comments came after Britain successfully tested a laser hitting an aerial target in January.
In March, Britain released footage of its new DragonFire laser weapon being demonstrated. Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko later told Newsweek that his country was “ready to test” DragonFire on the battlefield.
British DragonFire laser weapon system test fired
Additionally, former Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said at the time in a post on the X platform that Ukraine was “ready to receive and test the operation of such a laser complex on the front line.”
British Defense Secretary Shapps emphasized: "Let's say the laser system doesn't need to be 100% perfect for Ukraine to get its hands on it. It's not designed to be 99.9% perfect to deploy on the front line, it only needs to be 70% perfect to be able to use and upgrade further from the battlefield."
According to the British Ministry of Defense , DragonFire can shoot down objects the size of a small coin from 1,000 meters away, and costs 12.52 USD (315 thousand VND) per shot. At the same time, this weapon can provide a long-term, low-cost alternative to shooting down UAVs.
Britain is not the only country developing laser weapons. Russia has also used laser weapons to shoot down Ukrainian UAVs, but these weapons are sometimes hindered by weather.
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