- Its intense beam can cut through targets, such as drones, in its line of sight
The UK has successfully fired a high-powered laser weapon as fast as the speed of light at an aerial target for the first time.
In secret trials the DragonFire laser-directed energy weapon (LDEW) system proved so accurate it could hit a £1 coin half a mile away.
Its range, like much of the technology behind it, remains classified. But its intense beam can cut through targets, such as drones, in its line of sight.
It is also inexpensive. Each ‘shot’ costs around £10, according to defence sources.
The weapon system is a £100million collaboration between the Government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and industry partners such as Leonardo and Qinetiq. It is not known when DragonFire could enter service.
The DragonFire destroys a drone at the Ministry of Defence testing range in the Hebrides
