DragonFire laser: MoD tests weapon as low-cost alternative to missiles
The UK has successfully fired a high-power laser weapon against an aerial target for the first time in a trial.
It is hoped that the test will pave the way for a low-cost alternative to missiles to shoot down targets like drones.
The DragonFire weapon is precise enough to hit a £1 coin from a kilometre away, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) says.
The British should field-test them in Ukraine
If the targeting system is fast and accurate enough, that would be a difficult system to counter without using some kind of laser as well to destroy it, or an attack on its power source.
They don't work well against large missiles or fast moving ones, these are pretty low powered, just enough to melt though a plastic drone or fry some electronics. So a big metal fast moving missile would still need a traditional defensive.
DragonFire is a 50KW system, the US is supposed to have systems that are 6 and 10 times more powerful available in 2024 with a system that's 20 times more powerful in 2026. The US already has a mobile system, deployed on Army Strykers called DE M-SHORAD, as powerful as the British DragonFire.
A 10KW will down a decent sized drone in 8-15 seconds depending on where it hits. A 50KW will obviously do it faster and the 300KW and up systems will likely make it near instant.
I wonder how they scale up. Probably not great since the amount of energy lost scales greatly as well, to the point where there's so much heat it's not possible to cool anymore.
Laser's aren't difficult to counter, and are extremely dependent on uncontrollable operational conditons i.e. the weather.
No one weapon of the military is used in a vacuum, they are awful bloody tools in a large toolbox.
So having this will expand the capabilities and cost effectiveness overall, but not because it's singularly amazing and unbeatable.
Having such lasers stationary is one thing, but having them mobile another. You need a lot of stored energy to fire those things. And the tracking is probably the hardest task, at least for small or very fast objects, because you need to be so much more accurate compared to autocannons with programmable ammunition.
Having such lasers stationary is one thing, but having them mobile another.
The US already has them. They're called DE M-SHORAD and they're mounted on Strykers.
at least for small or very fast objects, because you need to be so much more accurate compared to autocannons with programmable ammunition.
Quite the opposite. Lasers don't need to be "led" when shooting, they're as fast as light. Putting the targeting reticle over the bogey and firing should guarantee a hit without possibility of evasion.
At the same time, you don’t have to worry about the travel time of the projectile because it’s instant you also don’t have to worry about things like air, causing a projectile to drift because there is no projectile. All you need is direct line of sight.
"Oi oi oi governer you got a liscence for that?"
For a giant death laser? I sure hope it’s restricted access.
Who thought the British will get to have King Raptors first?
Rheinmetall has the HEL and I believe the US has one in the works too.
The US already has a variety of HEL systems. The Navy has them, the Army has a Stryker brigade with them along with systems to go in the bed of a pickup truck and one that mounts on a side by side.
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Well we are very famous for our monarchism
How good would a sequel be, sigh
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The UK has successfully fired a high-power laser weapon against an aerial target for the first time in a trial.
It is hoped that the test will pave the way for a low-cost alternative to missiles to shoot down targets like drones.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the technology could reduce "the reliance on expensive ammunition, while also lowering the risk of collateral damage".
The MoD says both the Army and Royal Navy are considering using the technology as part of their future air defence capabilities.
It is being developed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), alongside some industry partners, on behalf of the MoD.
Dstl's chief executive Dr Paul Hollinshead said: "These trials have seen us take a huge step forward in realising the potential opportunities and understanding the threats posed by directed energy weapons."
The original article contains 402 words, the summary contains 138 words. Saved 66%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I guess the Israelis proved the iron beam works.
we should test it on the kreml
Cheaper than missiles! Look how cheap it is to kill people now. Unfortunately we need to kill more innocents now to keep the manufacturers in profit.
How are we gonna make a laser arc? And if it was from an aerial POV it would actually cause less collateral damage than something that explodes.
Why is this comment downvoted? Raytheon exists on Lemmy or something?
Yes this is probably powered....controlled by AI. Fantastic. Okay, we got autonomous dogs and jumpingjacks acrobatic humanoids, when do we allow to mount lasers to their backs? Are laser drones less scary? Nope.
But sure it would be a good weapon to quickly blind the enemy ruzzians.
At the risk of sounding excessively American, I kinda want one
By rights, every American should have one, preferably funded by tax dollars that could have gone to education.
We need an amendment! I want this guaranteed!
I too need this for hunting/home defense.
I just hate pound coins that are too far away
Mosquitos will never know what hit em.