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This text initially appeared on Business Insider.
Britain has examined a strong new laser weapon that may take out swarms of drones, the Ministry of Defence says.
The DragonFire laser weapon fired at a number of aerial targets for the primary time at a variety within the Hebrides in Scotland, a press launch mentioned.
The Times reported that politicians within the UK have been now hoping to hurry up its deployment following rising assaults by Houthi rebels in opposition to ships within the Crimson Sea.
“These trials have seen us take an enormous step ahead in realizing the potential alternatives and understanding the threats posed by directed power weapons,” mentioned Paul Hollinshead, the chief government of the MoD’s Defence Science and Know-how Laboratory.
The DragonFire laser weapon system. UK’s Ministry of Defence by way of BI
The laser-directed power weapon system was used within the exams to have interaction aerial targets a number of miles away, The Occasions reported, and may very well be used to guard naval vessels in round 5 years.
The weapon value about £100 million, or $126 million, to develop and makes use of a extremely concentrated power beam that travels on the pace of sunshine to take out targets, the MoD says.
Firing it for 10 seconds is the associated fee equal of utilizing an everyday heater for simply an hour, it says. The price of working the laser is often lower than $13 a shot.
The UK is not the one nation to be creating laser weapons, with the US already mentioned to be deploying them within the Center East to deter drone and missile attacks, although it is unclear whether or not they’ve been used but.
Russia additionally says it has used laser weapons to take out Ukrainian drones, although their effectiveness is unclear.
The weapons are comparatively low-cost to make use of in contrast with present air protection methods, which use missiles costing hundreds of thousands to intercept drones costing as little as $2,000.
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