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UK beefs up Royal Navy counter-drone tech with $413 million laser contract
The £316 million contract funds a laser system costing £10 per shot, able to target drones flying up to 650 km/h, enhancing Royal Navy defense by 2027.
- On Nov. 20, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said MBDA UK won a 316 million deal to supply the Royal Navy with the DragonFire laser, to be fitted on a Type 45 destroyer by 2027.
- With low-cost drones now ubiquitous, the U.K. Strategic Defence Review backed directed-energy weapons while European defence firms Rheinmetall and MBDA last month advanced naval laser demonstrators.
- In testing at the Hebrides range, Scotland, MBDA UK, working with QinetiQ and Leonardo, demonstrated aerial-target defeat, with drones flying up to 650 km/h, the MoD said.
- The programme will create and sustain 590 jobs across the U.K., the MoD said, and officials say the capability will strengthen Royal Navy drone defence as part of layered air-defence.
- The MoD said DragonFire will be the first high-power laser capability to enter service from a European nation, while MBDA's pan-European work and recent German demonstrators highlight growing naval laser weapons trends.
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UK beefs up Royal Navy counter-drone tech with $413 million laser contract
Britain on Thursday awarded a 316-million-pound ($413 million) contract to missile company MBDA UK to provide DragonFire laser systems for the Royal Navy, under a plan to add new technology to ships to counter potential drone attacks.
·United Kingdom
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