The formidable power of the Dragon Fire laser weapon: The killer kills the UAV in the blink of an eye

The Dragonfire (Fire Dragon) super laser weapon, a revolutionary weapon system that can disable drones in the air, has undergone successful testing in England.

In response to a request from the UK Ministry of Defense for a long-range weapon to counter drone threats, DragonFire was created. It can shoot down things in mid-air by ejecting incredibly powerful laser beams.

The super laser gun was tested on November 8 at Porton Down’s test range, according to the British Ministry of Defense. A small drone that was over 3 kilometres away was struck by the laser during the test and rendered useless.

The UK Ministry of Defense and its partners are working together on a $114 million joint project to develop this weapon. According to the press release, the development of the weapon system’s advanced command and control (C2 – Command and Control) and image processing capabilities, as well as overall operation, are the responsibility of the European multinational missile manufacturer MBDA.

“The new test involved using the prototype DragonFire laser weapon to hit multiple targets at different ranges, requiring high accuracy,” the ministry said in a statement. These tests will help strengthen Britain’s understanding of how high-energy laser weapons and related technologies work, and their functions.”

According to the UK Ministry of Defense: “Laser directed energy weapons are highly lethal, while being low cost, reduce logistical burden and are more effective than many other weapon systems. This technology could have a huge impact on the future of defense.”

The UK Ministry of Defense has released footage of the deadly weapon, which shows it melting metal in a split second. According to the ministry, the DragonFire super laser gun helps protect military forces from enemy missiles, UAVs and shelling.

Laser weapons work by tracking flying objects and shining an intense laser beam at them. This beam is so powerful that it can burn and disable anything it touches. The effectiveness of a laser depends on many factors, from the incoming energy to the ability to keep the laser focused on the target. Even the location of the laser beam can make a significant difference: shining the laser at the housing and circuitry, for example, will render the UAV disabled faster than hitting the battery.

However, focusing only on the ability to emit powerful lasers is not enough to ensure quick destruction of UAVs or other threats such as missiles or mortars. The development of sensors and automated tracking systems in laser weapons is also important. In a real combat situation, it takes a laser weapon a few seconds to disable a missile before switching to another.

The UK Ministry of Defense has been looking to develop laser weapons since 2015. One of the long-term challenges in making this weapon is that the beam’s power can be reduced by airborne particles such as smoke and dust. , even fog and rain. Therefore, the ministry set out to develop a laser weapon that can detect, acquire and track targets at various ranges, can operate in a variety of weather conditions and ensure ensure sufficient accuracy.

Drones are an ideal target for DragonFire, in part because they have a slow flight speed that makes laser weapons easy to track and easy to blind. DragonFire, like many other modern laser weapons, can become an effective solution to deal with modern threats such as unmanned vehicles.