The Minister of Defense of Great Britain Grant Shepps allowed the shipment of DragonFire laser weapons to Ukraine until 2027. This was reported by The Daily Telegraph.
Let's put it this way, it (laser weapon – ed.) does not necessarily have to be 100% perfect in order to hand it over to Ukraine. At the moment the date is still 2027, but of course I will see what we can do to speed up the process.
DragonFire is a joint development of the manufacturer of missile systems in Europe MBDA and the British Porton Down Defense Laboratory (DSTL).
According to the head of the project Matt Korkon, advanced samples of laser weapons can be transferred to Kyiv as early as September, after the British Army will test DragonFire in practice.
On March 15, the American publication Newsweek, citing the British Ministry of Defense, reported that DragonFire will not be transferred to Ukraine, as the weapon has not yet been put into operation. Kyiv declared its readiness to test the new technology.
The DragonFire laser weapon has been developed in Great Britain since 2017. It works by focusing 37 laser beams with a power of 1.5 kW, and the special shape of the device allows to achieve constructive interference, which additionally increases the power. The weapon is invisible to the human eye, as the beams are located near the infrared spectrum, and is silent.
The beam, which travels at the speed of light, is capable of destroying a target the size of a coin at a distance of 1 km, turning metal into plasma with with a temperature of 3000°C.
The range of the weapon is classified. According to the developers, the laser weapon is designed for anti-aircraft defense, it is especially effective in shooting down drones.
The cost of one shot is only $13. On March 19, Great Britain successfully tested DragonFire.