What are the new destructive DragonFire lasers which will be fitted to four Royal Navy destroyers?

The laser-directed energy weapon known as DragonFire will be installed on Royal Navy destroyers. Capable of zapping a £1 coin from a mile away, the laser costs just £10 to fire and can burn unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - colloquially known as drones - out of the sky from three miles away.

Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said plans are in place for the weapon to be used by 2027, though did not confirm which ships will be fitted with the new technology. Speaking to Forces News yesterday in light of the Spring Statement, he said : “Directed energy weapons are one of those novel and advanced technologies that we want to see on more of our ships.

“Previously, we inherited an unfunded plan for a single destroyer to get the DragonFire system, and we're now announcing today a fully funded plan to put them on four of our destroyers.”

Why is the new laser being prioritised?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined plans to make the UK into a “defence industrial superpower” during her speech in parliament yesterday. She confirmed that a further £2.2bn will be allocated to defence, alongside the previously announced rise of £2.9bn in October and plan to set military spending at 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.

The chancellor confirmed a minimum of 10 per cent of MoD equipment budget will be allocated towards novel burgeoning technologies including drones and other AI systems. Ms Reeves said this will increase the demand for high-skilled engineers and scientists. The DragonFire laser weapon will for part of this.

What is the DragonFire laser?

As reported in the UK Defence Journal, the high-precision weapon is capable of destroying drones and other aerial targets at a significant range - up to 5km away. Among the advantages of the system is its cost effectiveness for the Royal Navy fleet. A ten second burst is said to cost the same as running a domestic heater for an hour.

In comparison, every Sea Viper missile shot fired by a destroyer - such as HMS Diamond when she was dealing with attacks from Houthi rebels - cost between £1m and £2m. As previously reported in The News, the laser has been in development for nearly a decade to take down aerial targets from a fair distance very precisely.

Sailors will also not run into ammunition problems if the system is used, and its power can also be controlled to either jam electrical sensors of destroy targets. It is expected to be a complimentary system to missiles and other weapons.