New UK laser weapon could be used against Russian drones in Ukraine, British defense secretary says

BUSINESS INSIDER:  A new high-tech laser weapon developed by the UK that is capable of shooting down enemy drones and missiles could be sent to Ukraine.

The weapon, dubbed DragonFire, was originally slated for deployment by 2027, but Grant Shapps, the UK defense secretary, said he hoped to "speed up" production so it could be put to use on Ukraine's front line.

Speaking to journalists on a visit to the Porton Down military research hub in Salisbury, England, Shapps said he would look to see if the pace can be increased even further "in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it."

"I've come down to speed up the production of the DragonFire laser system because I think given that there's two big conflicts on, one sea-based, one in Europe, this could have huge ramifications to have a weapon capable particularly of taking down drones," Shapps said.

The comments come after a trial of the laser successfully hit an aerial target in January.

Following the release of a video showing it in action in March, Ukrainian politician Oleksiy Goncharenko told Newsweek his country was "ready to test" DragonFire on the battlefield.

Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said at the time in a post on X that Ukraine was "ready to take and test the operation of such a laser complex in combat conditions."

And Shapps seemed to agree with the Ukrainian position.

"Let's say that it didn't have to be 100% perfect in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it," he said.

"It's designed to not wait until we have this at 99.9% perfection before it goes into the field, but get it to sort of 70% and then get it out there and then develop it from there," Shapps added.

"But 2027 is still the date as of this moment," he continued.