The UK will deploy its new DragonFire laser weapons on board four warships as part of plans to boost its military.
A UK Ministry of Defence official told BI that the plan is for the weapons to be deployed on four Royal Navy destroyers by 2027.
This comes as part of a £2.2bn, or $2.8 billion, boost in UK defense spending over the next financial year, as the country increases its defense budget to 2.5% of GDP in the face of growing global instability and pressure from President Donald Trump.
“The funding will be invested in advanced technologies so that Britain’s armed forces have the tools they need to compete and win in modern warfare,” the UK MOD said in a statement.
“This includes guaranteeing the investment to fit Royal Navy ships with Directed Energy Weapons by 2027.”
The MOD said the DragonFire can hit a coin from 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) away, and take down drones at a distance of over 3 miles.
Last year, the MOD released a video showing the weapon being tested off the coast of Scotland.
At the time, it said the laser was relatively cheap to operate, at around $13 a shot, compared to missile-based air-defense systems that can cost millions.
The UK’s armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, told Forces News that directed energy weapons are “one of those novel and advanced technologies that we want to see on more of our ships,”
“The work on which destroyers precisely is being worked through by the Navy at the moment, but this is a massive boost for the defensive posture of our Royal Navy fleet,” he added.
Countries including the US, China, and Israel are also gearing up to field their own laser weapons, which have long been the stuff of science fiction stories.
The move toward lasers has been sped up by the threats posed by drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, which are cheap and can be fitted with explosives. Drones have been used heavily in the war in Ukraine, and by Houthi militants in attacks on international shipping lanes.
Laser weapons work by directing a high-energy beam at the target’s vulnerable points, in order to disable it.
An animation video released by the UK MOD last year showed a DragonFire being used to take down two drones approaching a navy vessel.
However, military experts say there are still major questions over how well laser weapons can function in conditions where there’s bad weather or smoke, or in providing enough energy to operate in certain environments.
