Britain confirms DragonFire laser will arm Royal Navy destroyers by 2027
Britain has confirmed its DragonFire laser weapon will be installed on Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers before the end of 2027, making the UK the first European NATO member with an operational shipborne directed-energy weapon. Each engagement costs around 13 dollars, against drones that cost far more. The system was built by an MBDA-led consortium with Leonardo, QinetiQ, and the UK Ministry of Defence.
Britain has confirmed that its DragonFire laser will be installed on Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers before the end of 2027, making the UK the first European NATO member to field an operational shipborne directed-energy weapon. DragonFire is a 50-kilowatt class laser built by a consortium led by MBDA, with Leonardo $LDO, QinetiQ $QQ, and the UK Ministry of Defence research lab. Leonardo showed its beam director at the NATO Industrial Advisory Group Plenary in Portsmouth on June 24. The Ministry of Defence compares its precision to hitting a coin from one kilometre away. Each engagement costs around 13 dollars, while the drones it stops can cost thousands. A missile defence that runs out of missiles loses to cheap mass, so a weapon limited only by ship power changes what a destroyer can absorb against drone swarms. The timeline was accelerated by roughly five years, and Britain plans to fit up to four destroyers, subject to early performance at sea.