{"id":1575,"date":"2025-03-27T14:29:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T15:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=1575"},"modified":"2025-04-01T23:05:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T23:05:38","slug":"uks-new-death-ray-weapon-that-can-accurately-destroy-targets-nearly-a-mile-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/uks-new-death-ray-weapon-that-can-accurately-destroy-targets-nearly-a-mile-away\/","title":{"rendered":"UK\u2019s new \u2018death ray\u2019 weapon that can accurately destroy targets nearly a mile away"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T28S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2024\/03\/12\/09\/82352639-0-image-a-98_1710235241947.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2024-03-12T09:19:09+0000″,”description”:”An official video is thought to show a trial at the MOD’s Hebrides Range, in which the so-called DragonFire laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) system achieved the UK’s first high-power firing of a laser weapon against aerial targets.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2024\/03\/12\/7074335199852711748\/480x270_MP4_7074335199852711748.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480}<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupports HTML5
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/video>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

Up Next<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrevious Page<\/title>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__arrow metro-related-video-carousel__arrow--right disabled\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<title>Next Page<\/title>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-videos-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Royal Navy will install four new cutting-edge weapons systems on its warships to help defend against air attacks from <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/russia\/\">Russia<\/a> and the Houthis.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday Chancellor <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/rachel-reeves\/\">Rachel Reeves<\/a> announced in the Spring Statement that <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/02\/25\/keir-starmer-hike-defence-spending-13-400-000-000-2027-22621831\/\">defence spending will increase to 2.5% of GDP<\/a> \u2013 and some of that extra cash will go towards four DragonFire direct energy weapons.<\/p>\n<p>The weapons shoot a laser of pure heat at its targets, either destroying them or seriously damaging missile guidance systems.<\/p>\n<p>And they\u2019re so accurate they could hit a target the size of a \u00a31 coin from 0.6miles (1km) away.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hoped the weapons will improve the defence capabilities of the UK Navy \u2013 boosting our capabilities both against potential <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/russia-ukraine-conflict\/\">threats from Russia<\/a> and ongoing attacks from Houthis in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Sidharth Kahsual, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told <strong>Metro<\/strong>: \u2018What DragonFire provides is a low cost per shot capability that fills an intermediate space between surface to air missiles, which cover many tens of kilometres, and close range weapons on a ship, which are often a last resort.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"367\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22800371 lazyload\" alt=\"Advanced future military laser achieves UK first A military laser which could boost the UK Armed Forces with greater accuracy while reducing the reliance on high-cost ammunition has reached its next milestone. During a trial at the MOD?s Hebrides Range, the DragonFire laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) system achieved the UK?s first high-power firing of a laser weapon against aerial targets. The range of DragonFire is classified, but it is a line-of-sight weapon and can engage with any visible target. First high-power firing of a laser weapon against aerial targets Laser boasts pinpoint accuracy and low long-term costs Partnership with industry making positive progress for UK Armed Forces DragonFire exploits UK technology to be able to deliver a high power laser over long ranges. The precision required is equivalent to hitting a ?1 coin from a kilometre away. Laser-directed energy weapons can engage targets at the speed of light, and use an intense beam of light to cut through the target, leading to structural failure or more impactful results if the warhead is targeted. Firing it for 10 seconds is the cost equivalent of using a regular heater for just an hour. Therefore, it has the potential to be a long-term low-cost alternative to certain tasks missiles currently carry out. The cost of operating the laser is typically less than ?10 per shot.\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_187856518-4e73.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The laser is used to hit aerial targets with greater accuracy (Picture: Ministry of Defence)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s quite power consuming, which is something the Navy will have to work around, but vessels have huge power plants anyway and their power generators have enormous output.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The DragonFire \u2018death laser\u2019 comes to life after the ship\u2019s radar detects an incoming threat such as a missile or drone. DragonFire will then target and track its path, before shooting it down with a 55kilowatt laser which burns a hole through it.<\/p>\n<p>It hasn\u2019t yet been confirmed which Navy ships will be fitted with the new weapon, but it\u2019s thought four of our six Type 45 destroyers will receive them, with the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales potentially receiving them at a later date, <a href=\"http:\/\/live-uk.andweb.dmgt.net\/news\/article-14539891\/royal-navy-dragonfire-laser-2027-chancellor-rachel-reeves.html\">MailOnline reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The direct energy weapons are \u2018certainly\u2019 an area of interest for navies around the world, Dr Kashual said, adding that the US Navy has recently trialed similar weapons.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that these types of weapon have a \u2018high performance for its output\u2019 and are \u2018pretty cleverly engineered\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"430\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22800369 lazyload\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_199584642-1edf.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>DragonFire\u2019 could be used to take down Houthi missiles and Russian drones (Picture: Ministry of Defence\/Crown copyright\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One major bonus of the DragonFire system is that it is powered using existing power systems already located on board.<\/p>\n<p>This means it doesn\u2019t need expensive ammo, costing only about \u00a310 to fire, and reduces how often a ship needs to dock to receive more ammo for conventional weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Dr David Blagden is associate professor in international security and strategy at the University of Exeter. He told <strong>Metro <\/strong>that DragonFire does have its limits.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Lasers rely on direct line-of-sight, can be impeded by things like smoke or vapour, might be countered by incoming weapons\u2019 own heat shielding, and will need to be aimed quickly and accurately enough by a sufficiently advanced targeting radar,\u2019 he explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018But DragonFire can be a valuable complement to such air defence missiles and guns, unencumbered by the same scarcity constraints, particularly for defending against things like drone swarms, where each incoming munition is not especially fast or capable by itself, but where adversaries may try to swamp traditional air defence missiles and guns with the sheer number of attack drones.\u2019<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22800370 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_195695583-8a8a.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Declassified footage of DragonFire released in 2024 (Picture: MOD\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Before <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/26\/key-takeaways-rachel-reeves-spring-statement-2025-22794589\/\">the Spring Statement<\/a>, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had only committed to installing one prototype DragonFire on a single ship.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hoped the new weapons will be able to cheaply and efficiently destroy cheap drones or missiles, such as those used by the Houthis, at a much lower cost \u2013 saving resources in case of escalation of the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/russia\/\">Russia<\/a> relies quite heavily on missile attacks to hold stronger navies at arm\u2019s length, so this improvement of air missile defence represents something of a challenge for them,\u2019 Dr Kahsual explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Some of the weapons used by Russia tend to be designed to overwhelm defence by brute force, their speed leaves little time to react, so DragonFire doesn\u2019t fundamentally change that. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018Where it becomes more useful is second tier situations like the Houthis in the Red Sea where everybody is relatively constrained. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018The most important impact of DragonFire will be in places like the Red Sea that doesn\u2019t draw down resources in the EU.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong><strong><strong>Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:webnews@metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this, <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T28S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2024\/03\/12\/09\/82352639-0-image-a-98_1710235241947.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2024-03-12T09:19:09+0000″,”description”:”An official video is thought to show a trial at the MOD’s Hebrides Range, in which the so-called DragonFire laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) system achieved the UK’s first high-power firing of a laser weapon against aerial targets.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2024\/03\/12\/7074335199852711748\/480x270_MP4_7074335199852711748.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russia-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1575"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1580,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575\/revisions\/1580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}