DragonFire – pathway to a Laser Directed Energy Weapon for the Royal Navy?

Published on March 11, 2024



In late 2023 an aerial target was destroyed during a successful test firing of the UK’s DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) technology demonstrator. Here we look at DragonFire and the possibility of operational derivatives.

Background

In early 2017 a consortium led by MBDA was awarded a £30M contract by the MoD Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to develop a LDEW demonstrator. This was a high-profile project and was widely publicised but progress was initially slow and there were rumours the project had stalled. Behind the scenes steady development continued and the first trials against static targets at the Dstl Porton Down range were made public in October 2022. In July 2023 low-power tracking trials were successfully concluded at the Hebrides Range followed by a high-power shot resulting in the destruction of a moving aerial target in October 2023. This was a UK first and demonstrated British LDEW technology is of sufficient maturity to form the basis of an operational capability.

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