The UK plans to add the latest DragonFire laser weapons to its arsenal by 2027. At the same time, he is working to provide Ukraine with its prototype earlier — even if it is not 100% finalized.
This was stated by the British Minister of Defense Grant Shepps after visiting a laboratory developing a laser capable of shooting down enemy drones and missiles.
Ukraine may receive a prototype of the DragonFire laser
According to him, delays in the deployment of new technologies in weapons are “the biggest waste of money in defense”.
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— Every time there is a delay, there is a cost associated with it. I want to speed up what would normally be a very long process, perhaps up to 10 years, into a much shorter time frame and deploy it, potentially on ships and potentially on land, — Schepps noted.
Although the technology is not yet ready for use in combat, he says he is negotiating with developers about how Britain can advance DragonFire for use in conflict on the ground.
— Let's just say that it doesn't have to be 100% perfect for the Ukrainians to possibly get their hands on it. 2027 — that's still a date, but of course I'll see what we can do to speed up the process — he summed up.
What is known about DragonFire
In January 2024, the UK conducted successful tests of the DragonFire laser weapon, showing on video the destruction of an aerial target.
It is so accurate that it can hit a small coin 1 km away, but its maximum range remains classified.
At the same time, it’s cheap: one shot costs about $13. And the air defense missile — millions of dollars.
