The British armed forces are spending £30m developing their own raygun (‘laser directed energy weapon’) called, wait for it, ‘Dragonfire’. The raygun (‘beam director’) was unveiled by the group of arms companies working on it at the DSEI arms fair in London in September.
Dragonfire could be used to provide short-range defences against air or sea attacks, and against drones. The laser could be used for tracking, dazzling the sensors of, or damaging or destroying, its targets. Each shot might cost only a few pence.
Tests will start next year, and there will be a ‘major demonstration’ in 2019.