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UK’s New Test of Dragonfire Laser Weapon Reshapes British Navy Air Defence Capabilities.
The British Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the UK’s DragonFire high-energy laser has shot down high-speed drones during live trials at the MoD Hebrides range, in what officials describe as one of the most advanced tests of its kind. The results clear the way for a £316 million programme to fit the system to Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers from 2027, giving the fleet a far cheaper way to counter mass drone and missile attacks than expending expensive missiles.
On 20 November 2025, the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed a new round of live trials for the DragonFire laser weapon system. Conducted at the MOD Hebrides range in Scotland, the tests saw the high-energy laser intercept and destroy fast unmanned aerial targets beyond the horizon. The engagement of drones flying at very high subsonic speeds marks a decisive step towards integrating directed-energy weapons into frontline naval air defence. At a time when missile and drone attacks are proliferating in multiple theatres, the ability to neutralise threats at extremely low cost per shot is of direct operational relevance for the UK and its allies. The latest campaign moves DragonFire from a technology demonstrator towards an operational capability intended for deployment on Royal Navy destroyers later this decade.
In trials at the MOD Hebrides, the UK’s DragonFire laser weapon destroyed high‑speed drones, validating its operational utility and paving the way for Royal Navy Type 45 integration (Picture Source: UK MoD)
The most recent firings at the Hebrides range were designed to replicate realistic scenarios rather than laboratory conditions. According to official statements, DragonFire was tasked with engaging remotely piloted aircraft flying at up to around 650 km/h, roughly twice the top speed of a Formula 1 car, and at ranges where the targets were above the horizon relative to the firing point. The system completed the full sequence of detecting, tracking, assigning the laser and maintaining the beam on target until the drone structure failed and the aircraft was destroyed, which UK authorities describe as a first of its kind for a domestically developed laser weapon. Images released alongside the announcement show the system mounted on a test platform at MBDA’s facility in Stevenage and firing at night on the range, underlining that the trials took place in a variety of environmental conditions. Earlier campaigns had already demonstrated the ability to track airborne targets and, in January 2024, to destroy an aerial target for the first time; this latest series extends that performance envelope to higher-speed drones and more demanding geometries.
From a technical perspective, DragonFire brings together a high-power laser source, Leonardo’s beam-director optics and QinetiQ’s test and evaluation expertise within a compact mount designed to be ship-ready. The system relies on fast-steering mirrors, precision sensors and advanced control algorithms to keep energy focused on a very small area of the target despite atmospheric disturbance and platform motion. The Ministry of Defence indicates that the accuracy achieved is comparable to hitting a £1 coin at a distance of one kilometre, illustrating the degree of beam control required for a laser to be lethal against small airframes. Because the destructive effect is delivered by concentrated light rather than an explosive warhead, there is no physical ammunition to store or reload, only electrical power to supply. Officials estimate the cost of a full-power shot at around £10 in energy consumption, in contrast to modern surface-to-air missiles whose unit price typically reaches into the hundreds of thousands of pounds or more. This cost-exchange ratio is central to the concept: a laser that can repeatedly destroy inexpensive drones without depleting magazines directly addresses the economic imbalance currently exploited by operators of mass, low-cost unmanned systems.
Operationally, the Royal Navy intends DragonFire to augment the layered air-defence suite of its Daring‑class (Type 45) destroyers rather than to supplant existing systems. Currently, these vessels employ the Sea Viper missile system, medium‑calibre naval guns and the Phalanx close‑in weapon system to counter aircraft and incoming unmanned aerial threats, a combination that has been used in operational engagements such as interceptions of Houthi‑launched drones in the Red Sea. Missile engagements expend high‑value rounds that are produced in limited quantities at a time when demand for air‑defence munitions across NATO is increasing. By contrast, a high‑energy laser can, subject to available electrical power and thermal management, engage multiple soft or lightly constructed targets in rapid succession. Within a future layered defence concept, DragonFire would be employed primarily against drones, small unmanned aircraft and certain rocket types, thereby preserving missile inventories for complex or long‑range threats and enhancing the ship’s sustained defensive endurance during extended deployments.
The Hebrides trial campaign represents a pivotal milestone in enabling DragonFire’s evolution from a technology demonstrator to what the Ministry of Defence defines as a “minimum deployable capability.” In support of this transition, the UK government has awarded a £316 million contract to MBDA UK, in collaboration with QinetiQ and Leonardo, to complete system development and integration on a Type 45 destroyer from 2027, approximately five years ahead of the original schedule. The associated industrial programme is projected to sustain around 600 skilled positions across Scotland, the South West, and the East of England. Officials have emphasised, however, that it was the system’s demonstrated maturity during recent trials, most notably the successful beyond-horizon interception of high-speed drones, that prompted the decision to accelerate the timeline. The integration of DragonFire into a frontline destroyer’s combat system will also provide valuable experience that is expected to guide the broader deployment of directed-energy weapons across the Royal Navy fleet.
The latest DragonFire campaign shows that high-energy lasers are moving from conceptual promise to practical air-defence tools. By proving that a domestically developed system can detect, track and destroy fast drones beyond the horizon at a cost per shot orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional missiles, the UK has signalled that directed-energy weapons will play a tangible role in how its surface fleet confronts massed unmanned threats. If integration on a Type 45 proceeds as planned, the Royal Navy is on course to field Europe’s first operational high-power naval laser, creating an important reference for NATO partners considering similar capabilities.
Beyond the technical achievement, these trials highlight a broader shift in naval doctrine, where the ability to sustain defence over time against persistent drone activity becomes as important as peak performance against a limited number of high-end threats. DragonFire’s performance at Hebrides points towards a future in which lasers, missiles and guns are employed in a tightly integrated layered system, each used where they are most effective both tactically and economically. For readers wishing to go further into this evolution and see the images and sequences from the range, Army Recognition’s Daily video report on this event can be watched in the player provided below the page.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.