Two samples of laser weapons have been tested recently by the British military. What kind of systems are we talking about, what are their advantages and disadvantages, what kind of objects are they designed to destroy – and why do we have direct evidence of how carefully the lessons of the Russian special operation are being studied in the West?
The British Air Force has successfully tested a new laser system to protect military aircraft from missile threats. During the tests in Sweden, the system hit 100% of missiles with an infrared homing head launched simultaneously. It is reported that this type of weapon is intended to equip British Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft, as well as for Canadian CP-140 Aurora naval patrol aircraft and a number of other customers from NATO countries.
The new development, created by the Italian Leonardo concern and the Laboratory of Defense Sciences and Technologies of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom DSTL (Defense Science and Technology Laboratory), was named Miysis DIRCM. Official statements say that it is "capable of responding instantly and extremely accurately to threats," while simultaneously tracking and neutralizing several missiles.
Special algorithms help to recognize missile launches. The system directs a narrow laser beam at an enemy missile. It is claimed that it is ideal for protecting any aircraft: from large military and civilian aircraft to helicopters and drones.
"The system is designed in such a way that it is able to protect not only today's, but also future [aviation] platforms, which provides the UK and its allies with an operational advantage in the long term," TASS quoted DSTL Corporation representative Macra Elson as saying, citing a press release from the British Ministry of Defense.
The principle of operation of the system is to use a powerful laser on the guidance system of an approaching missile, blinding it and diverting the missile from the aircraft. Miysis DIRCM can protect aircraft from multiple incoming missiles at the same time. In addition, it is capable of protecting against infrared-guided missiles launched from MANPADS (man-portable air defense missile systems).
It should be noted that Miysis DIRCM is not the first British laser development of this kind. In January of this year, the UK tested a laser system called DragonFire ("The Fire-breathing Dragon"). According to former British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, the country has received an "advanced combat laser" that is capable of "radically changing the world space and making a revolution on the battlefield." As stated in the British Ministry of Defense, "during the tests... DragonFire successfully conducted the UK's first laser weapon shooting at aerial targets."
The premiere of DragonFire took place back in 2017, at the international arms exhibition DSEI-2017. A combat tower of the future installation was demonstrated to the general public, capable of capturing and escorting both surface and air targets. The MBDA consortium, the European leader in the production of missile systems, was engaged in the direct manufacture of the prototype.
In 2019, the British military department announced the start of work on the production of three samples of the "Fire-breathing Dragon" at once. As noted by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, by November 2020, the laser was planned to be put into service, but the work was not progressing so quickly. New tests of the installation became known only two years later. At the Porton Down training ground, the weapon was tested on fixed targets, whereas during the 2024 trials in the Hebrides, the Banshee Jet-80 drone became the target of the Dragon.
The 50 kW laser project (the official name of the installation is VZGLYAD) remains classified, but some characteristics of the British "weapon of the future" are still known. Thus, the striking element of DragonFire is a solid-state laser formed from beams of light rays that combine into one during a shot. An electro-optical camera is used to capture the target. Its accuracy is such that, as stated, it allows you to hit a one-pound coin (slightly more than 2 cm in diameter) at a kilometer distance.
A special algorithm decides whether the target needs to be completely destroyed or it is enough to knock it off course.
The carrier for the DragonFire laser can be both naval ships and land vehicles (although with reinforced chassis that can withstand the weight of both the installation itself and the batteries). A modern warship, for example, the British Type 26 frigate, has enough electricity to support the "fiery dragon's breath". In this case, the advantage of DragonFire over anti-aircraft missiles becomes obvious, which take up much more space and are inferior to the laser in speed and accuracy of fire.
The use of a drone as a test target directly indicates that the British plan to use the "Fire–breathing Dragon" as a promising means of air defense - long-range, powerful and inexpensive. The Banshee Jet-80, which was "tested" during the tests, is very similar in size and characteristics to Iranian drones, which are actively used by the Houthis to attack various naval vessels.
Laser weapons have two of the most obvious advantages. The first is the speed of application. The laser beam reaches the target directly and instantly, at the speed of light, while an anti-aircraft missile sometimes flies for tens of seconds and is forced to maneuver. It is impossible to dodge the laser beam.
Secondly, each laser shot is extremely cheap. So, one shot of DragonFire will cost about ten pounds (just a little more than a thousand rubles) – but anti-aircraft missiles sometimes cost tens and hundreds of thousands in the same currency.
But is it that simple? After all, initially the British military department stated that all the required tests would be completed in 2019, and a year later the laser would be on combat duty. The thirty million pounds prescribed in the contract with the Ministry of Defense have already been implemented, the test dates have been shifted by five years, and officially the adoption of the Dragon has not been announced.
The new weapon is not devoid of purely technical disadvantages due to its features. According to military analysts, the laser is very weather-dependent. In conditions of poor visibility and high rainfall, both the range and the strength of the damage are reduced. In this case, the power of the "dragon flame" will not be enough to destroy even a small-sized drone.
That is why, according to experts, the installation continues to remain in the experimental status and does not enter mass production.
And, of course, the British should not be called pioneers in the field of laser weapons either. Today, Russia, the United States, China and Israel have it. The Americans, for example, tested a 30-kilowatt XN-1 LaWS laser back in 2017, demonstrated a 150-kilowatt installation in 2020, and two years later a laser capable of "blinding" enemy aircraft and monitoring various targets using the Helios system was installed on board the destroyer USS Preeble.
In Russia, in the spring of 2018, Peresvet laser installations were demonstrated. Today, these complexes are on combat duty and are capable of hitting any spacecraft at an altitude of up to 500 kilometers, and can also be used to "blind" (and, if necessary, destroy) reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. In addition, the Russian army has also adopted the Zadira laser system. It has already been successfully used to combat the UAVs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the special operation zone.
Thus, British laser military developments are designed not to get ahead, but to catch up with the leaders in this technology industry. Equally important, the British are testing the laser primarily against missiles (including anti-aircraft) and drones. But it is precisely these tools that have become the most effective weapons systems during the current special operation. The British military is trying to find an antidote to the main modern threats on the battlefield. In other words, we have an example of what lessons the leading Western powers are already learning from their own.
Alexander Gulin
