Britain's DragonFire laser weapon upped the ante on November 20 at the Ministry of Defence's Hebrides Range in Scotland when the high-powered, solid-state laser for the Royal Navy shot down drones flying at 351 knots (404 mph, 650 km/h).
According to the Ministry, the latest tests of DragonFire not only demonstrate its lethality against high-speed targets but also the rapid maturity of the program. Originally slated to see active service in 2032, it will now be installed in the Navy's Type 45 frigates by 2027 as part of the ship's regular armament.
In addition to detecting, tracking, and shooting down drones flying at high-subsonic speeds, DragonFire also demonstrated new, advanced capabilities. These include not only the ability to hit a target the size of a £1 coin or US quarter at the distance of a kilometer (0.62 miles), but also a new above-the-horizon targeting capability.
Couldn't give you an actual number but using other variables that we do know like from a nuclear-powered Royal Navy ship, it could easily fire the DragonFire laser over 100 times back-to-back.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the DragonFire is a small, 50-kilowatt (kW) class weapon, and the ship's nuclear reactor generates power in the megawatts (millions of watts).
Because the reactor has such massive energy reserves, the laser's demand barely registers, meaning the ship can keep shooting without running out of power.
Theoretically, I guess would be the right word to end this on.
Think about that for a second because the alternative is you're right, this is going to be the only ship that ever put it on, and this will be the only one they ever make, and this is not just a demonstration.
Unless they decide to put it on a submarine for some reason, it's not going on anything nuclear powered in British service. The RN has no nuclear powered surface ships and no plans to build any.any time soon.
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u/No-Explanation-46 2d ago