Britain Tests its First High-Energy Laser Weapon

The UK Ministry of Defence’s test fired the country’s first high-powered, long-range laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) called DragonFire.

The test was conducted by the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) on October 17 at the Porton Down science park test range in Wiltshire.

The DragonFire demonstrator was trialed against various targets at different distances. These tests validated the performance and viability of high-energy laser and related technologies, such as its beam director, to intercept ranged targets.

“This trial is the culmination of design, development and demonstration activity over a number of years. DragonFire has already successfully demonstrated an ability to track targets with very high levels of precision and to maintain a laser beam on the selected aim-point,” Dstl’s Technical Partner, Ben Maddison said.

DragonFire was developed with a fund of $114 million. This program runs in parallel with other defense projects, such as the Novel Weapons Program.