Great Britain intends to provide Ukraine with the latest laser weapons

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said delays in the introduction of new military technologies were the biggest waste of defense funds.

“I want to speed up a process that typically takes up to ten years, reducing it to a much shorter time frame and potentially using it both on ships and on land,” he said.

Shapps said the UK plans to add DragonFire to its arsenal by 2027, but is considering sending prototypes to Ukraine even earlier, even if they are not 100 percent ready.

“Let’s put it this way, it doesn’t have to be one hundred percent perfect for Ukrainians to use it. Now the deadline is 2027, but I, of course, will see what can be done to speed up the process,” the minister added.

Project leader Matt Cork told reporters that DragonFire could be made available to users for testing in September, when the 7th Air Defense Group tests the technology.

The weapon works by collecting 1.5 kW laser beams arranged in a hexagonal grid of 37 channels and combining them with mirrors to amplify the power. The weapon is invisible and silent because its wavelength is about one micron, invisible to the human eye and close to the infrared spectrum of light. However, the actual range still remains classified.

In tests, the weapon was able to destroy drones and cause projectiles to explode in less than five seconds. It instantly turns a metal surface into plasma at 3000°C and burns through metal sheet, body and weapon in a few seconds.

Although the system was designed to destroy drones, Shapps believes the system is powerful enough to destroy fast-moving projectiles and ballistic missiles.

DragonFire was first tested earlier this year at a test site in the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. According to the Ministry of Defence, the DragonFire laser can hit a £1 coin from a distance of one kilometre.