NOT YET WAR OF THE WORLDS

A UK consortium named Dragonfire is working towards initial laser demonstrations which will potentially culminate in a weaponised capability over the next ten years - but it won’t be Star Wars.

- Andrew Drwiega

“The Martians fought with weapons as yet unimagined by the people of Earth; an invisible sword of fire that destroyed all it touched.”

The foresight exhibited by HG Wells when writing his book War of the Worlds in 1897, predated the first laser by over 60 years. It was not until 1960 that Theodore Maiman invented the world’s first laser, known as the ‘ruby laser’, as it produced a red visible light.

Fast forward another 60 years and now there is every probability that lasers will actually be used as weapons within the next decade.

One of the trials currently underway for laser guided energy weapons is the being conducted by the UK Dragonfire consortium. This is being let by MBDA with partners QinetiQ, Leonardo, Arke, BAE Systems and Marshall ADG.

Working on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence who provided an investment of £30 million in January 2017, under contract to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), the consortium’s stated objective is to develop a Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) through a limited Capability Demonstrator Programme (CDP).

In July 2019, then Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said that the Government would be investing around £130 million into Directed Energy Weapons research and demonstrations.

Speaking at a briefing at the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) on 7 January, DSTL’s Ben Maddison said that the consortium had been making good progress over the last couple of years.