PREVIEW

UK's revolutionary laser weapon shoots down high-speed drones in new trials. Britain’s ground-breaking DragonFire laser weapon has shot high-speed drones out of the sky for the first time. In its most recent trials at the MOD’s Hebrides range, it shot down drones which can fly up to 650km/h - twice the top speed of a Formula 1 car. This included a UK first of above-the-horizon tracking, targeting, and shooting down such drones. The laser system costs just £10 per shot and is accurate enough to hit a £1 coin from a kilometre away. It is a more cost-effective method in comparison to traditional missile systems, which cost upwards of hundreds of thousands of pounds per shot. DragonFire will be fitted to a Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer by 2027 – five years faster than originally planned.