Air Defense with a Laser

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In a statement in January, the defense ministry said the weapon was so accurate it could hit a small coin at a range of 1 kilometer (0.6 miles), but its maximum range remains classified.

And compared to other air defense systems it’s cheap, with the DragonFire costing around $13 a shot, the MOD said, compared to air defense missiles that can cost millions of dollars each.

The MOD released an animation sequence showing a hypothetical scenario where a Royal Navy ship used the DragonFire to take out a small enemy ship and then three drones — one by blowing it up and two by disabling their control systems in precision strikes.

Tom Porter
March 14, 2024
Britain Shows Off DragonFire Laser Weapon, Can Take Out Drones for $13 – Business Insider

That is very cool. But I have questions.

  • Can it be defeated with an appropriate coating that reflects the laser light?
  • Can it be used for anti-personal?
  • What about radar guided missiles on cloudy days?

See also A new anti-missile laser downed 100% of its targets while fighting multiple threats at once, UK defense officials say (msn.com).

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12 thoughts on “Air Defense with a Laser”

  3. Defense lasers are one of those things we have had for a long time. But it somehow got forgotten about. Kind of like hyper sonics. (SR-71 Blackbird built in the 60-70’s anyone?)
    Laser based weapons were tested onboard ships and trucks over 15 years ago. And worked great supposedly.
    As you say Joe, Coatings, clouds, power, time on target needed, and reflections aside.
    One would think we would be big into them. But this is the military-industrial complex. So, lasers could have proved to cheap, easy, and worked so well as a defense mechanism.
    DARPA wouldn’t let anyone build them? (One must always keep in mind we have investors to consider first and foremost.)
    Methinks the government has a lot of things like this we hear nothing about.
    That’s been a fact in my mind since I saw the guy sitting in the UFO that flew/floated by me at no more than a150 yards.

    • The biggest problems I’ve read of with “useful” lasers are power draw and reliability.
      Also, from what I’ve personally seen, I doubt that is really the accuracy of the laser, at least in anything approaching real conditions.
      Tracking a target and getting a laser to meet it is HARD. Several years ago, I was involved in a project to track a UAV and fire a laser at it to charge solar panels on the UAV’s underside.
      The hardest part of the project was tracking the UAV – and our laser had a wide angle lens to make it easier.

      • Wow, OK, I would have thought tracking would have been something the military had conquered long ago? Guess not.
        That said, you’all trying to run a drone off laser/electric power?

        • That was the idea, a way of recharging a battery UAV in flight.
          They are tricky to track – small radar or visual return so a track is hard to start and they bounce ALOT in any turbulence so maintaining the track is also hard. (a track close enough to useful for targeting).

          P.S. I assume the “coin at 1 km” shows the aperture of the laser, mentioned by someone who doesn’t realize that isn’t accuracy.

  4. Lasers at power levels high enough to be “interesting,” have lots of issues, over and above the ones Joe brought up. For instance, eye safety.

  5. “USS Preble
    The first Navy ship to have a high-energy laser, the 60 kilowatt HELIOS (High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance) was installed on this destroyer in 2022. The laser was designed to counter attack drones and small boats.”

    I do not believe it has seen any combat in the Red Sea.

    • Note that is is a Dazzler, a visual distraction device, not what most people think of as a weapon.

      • Dazzler? NOT at THAT power level! That would be a vision destroyer, even on wide dispersal. I worked on a surgical laser that had a 160 watt output out of the chamber. That would blow chunks out of stainless steel fittings and safety glasses if you got careless.

  7. No weapon is perfect and this is NOT going to be a panacea for the military. But it could be a useful tool. And the fact that it’s relatively inexpensive is important. Other important questions include how robust is the system. Will it be “down” more often than working. Naval vessels are a very harsh environment to function in.

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