2024-03-14 23:25:16
The UK says it has successfully test-fired the DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) system. (British Defense Ministry)
[The Epoch Times, March 15, 2024](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu) The British military demonstrated a new type of laser weapon this week. This weapon can launch lethal or anti-aircraft missiles at a cost of only $13 per shot. Compared with the current The savings would be tens of millions of dollars compared to missile interceptors performing this mission.
The British Ministry of Defense released the “DragonFire” Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) system test video on X on March 11 (click here), recording the successful use of lasers to attack air targets by this new weapon during a simulation demonstration event held in Scotland in January this year.
“This is a potential game-changer for air defense,” the video says.
Video shows a bright laser beam piercing the night sky at a shooting range in the remote Hebrides archipelago, creating a ball of light when it hits its target.
The British Ministry of Defense said the Dragonfire missile can accurately hit a coin-sized target “at a long range”, but it did not provide details. The exact range of the weapon is said to be classified.
The Ministry of Defense statement also stated that laser beams can cut metal, which can cause structural failure or more serious consequences if the (enemy missile) warhead is hit.
It is said that the “Dragon Fire Laser Weapon” is incredibly cheap. The UK Ministry of Defense has set the price for firing a laser beam for 10 seconds at around $13 (£10). By comparison, the Standard Type II medium-range missile used by the U.S. Navy for air defense costs more than $2 million per launch.
The British Ministry of Defense isA statement in January“It has the potential to become a long-term, low-cost alternative to current missiles for certain missions,” he said.
The CNN website reported on March 14 that in recent years, the cost of anti-aircraft missiles has become a hot topic in the defense community. Low-cost drones are wreaking havoc on the battlefield in Ukraine, and Houthi rebels launch drones to attack commercial and military uses in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. ships, leading to an imbalance in missile consumption in Europe and the United States.
Analysts question how long the United States, Britain and their partners can continue to use expensive missiles against Houthi drones; in some cases, the drones cost well less than $100,000.
Meanwhile, expensive air defense systems from Western allies are critical to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian missile and drone attacks.
“Low-cost drones and rockets have changed the economic calculus of offense and defense in favor of those who use large numbers of cheap drones and munitions to overwhelm more sophisticated air and missile defense systems.” James Black, Assistant Director for Defense and Security at the U.S. Department of Defense (James Black) wrote in a blog post at the RAND Europe think tank in January this year.
Black said Dragon Fire could help turn that around.
“This cutting-edge weapon has the potential to completely change the rules of the battlefield by reducing reliance on expensive munitions,” British Defense Secretary Grant Shapp said after a test of the Dragonfire system in January.
But Black and others also pointed out that lasers like Dragon Fire have not yet been proven on the battlefield and have limitations.
The UK is not the first country to develop laser weapons capable of shooting down air targets. In 2014, in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy tested a prototype laser weapon aboard the USS Ponce. The laser system is capable of attacking drones, small aircraft and small boats. In 2020 and 2021, the Navy tested a more advanced laser weapon system on the amphibious landing ship USS Portland.
In 2022, the laser system will be installed on the USS Preble guided missile destroyer. Also in 2022, the U.S. Navy successfully tested a high-energy laser system against cruise missile targets. But a U.S. Navy report on the test said it had no plans to put the weapon into the hands of warfighters and that it “provides a glimpse into the future of laser weapons.”
However, UK defense leaders say integrating laser weapons into modern battlefields has become a new priority and there is no time to waste. Building on this research, the MoD recently announced its intention to fund a multi-million pound program to transfer the technology from a research environment to the battlefield, the MoD said in a statement.
The DragonFire weapon system is the result of a £100 million joint investment from the UK Ministry of Defense and the Department of Industry. The companies involved work together to support highly skilled jobs in the UK’s new cutting-edge technologies that are delivering significant changes to the UK’s capabilities in laser directed energy weapon systems.
Editor in charge: Li Huanyu#
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