Britain’s Destroyers Are Getting Laser Weapons

This is DragonFire, Britain's new laser weapon. The Ministry of Defence says each shot costs about £10, and that it is accurate enough to hit a £1 coin from a kilometre away. Under a £316 million contract, the first one is due on a Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer by 2027. Yet the minister who announced it says it doesn't replace missiles. So why can't a £10 laser replace a missile that may cost millions? This film explains what the £10 actually pays for, how a beam of light brings down a drone by holding one spot on it for seconds, why that matters when drones come in swarms, how it compares with the Phalanx gun every Type 45 already carries, what rain, sea spray and the horizon do to the beam, whether a Type 45 has the power for it, what a missile can do that a laser can't, and what Israel's Iron Beam and America's lasers tell us. 0:00 Britain's £10 laser 0:57 Ten pounds of electricity 2:41 How a beam of light brings down a drone 4:33 When the drones come in a swarm 6:53 What the weather at sea does to the beam 9:08 Can a Type 45 power a laser? 10:13 What a missile can do that a laser can't 12:43 So why can't it replace missiles? Would you spend the next £300m on more lasers, or more missiles? Tell us in the comments. SOURCES (selected) Ministry of Defence and Dstl (GOV.UK): DragonFire's first high-power firing at aerial targets (Jan 2024); fitting to ships from 2027 (Apr 2024); Sea Viper upgrade (Jan 2024); the £316m contract (Nov 2025); Strategic Defence Review release (Jun 2025) UK Parliament written answers on Type 45 lasers and power (Nov 2025, Dec 2025, Apr 2026); House of Commons Defence Committee evidence (2016) Congressional Research Service: Navy Shipboard Lasers (R44175, Jan 2026), DoD Directed Energy Weapons (R46925), M-SHORAD (IF12397); US Government Accountability Office (GAO-23-106717); US Office of Naval Research; Naval Postgraduate School; US Naval Research Laboratory; DSIAC Journal Naval News; Navy Lookout; Naval Technology; UK Defence Journal; Janes; Journal of Electromagnetic Dominance; European Security & Defence; The War Zone; Breaking Defense; Reuters; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; The Times of Israel; Globes; EDR Magazine; Army Technology; Unmanned Airspace; The Conversation FOOTAGE AND PHOTOS UK Ministry of Defence and Dstl, Open Government Licence (GOV.UK; MOD Defence Imagery via Wikimedia Commons): DragonFire images (Dstl / MoD); LA(Phot) Caz Davies, LA(Phot) Gary Weatherston, LA(PHOT) Ben Sutton, LA(PHOT) Nicky Wilson and LPhot Chris Sellars / MOD Dstl / MoD: declassified DragonFire trial footage (Mar 2024; the MoD's GOV.UK story embeds the BFBS Forces News upload) Royal Navy: "Diamond on patrol" (YouTube), excerpts used for commentary and review Royal Navy photos by Jim Gibson (via DVIDS); NATO Channel (via DVIDS); Italian Navy / NATO, Aster 30 launch (via DVIDS) US Government works, public domain (via DVIDS, Wikimedia Commons and the U.S. Navy YouTube channel). US Navy: MC1 Christopher J. Krucke, MC2 Timothy Dimal, MC2 Claire DuBois, MC1 Joshua Bryce Bruns, MC3 Tomas Valdes, MC1 Hannah Fry, PO1 Gregory Johnson, MC2 Aaron Lau, MC2 Kristin Rojas, George M. Bell, MC3 Alyssa Weeks, MC3 Dylan McCord, MC1 Nathanael Miller, Bryant Kurowski, John F. Williams, Austin Rooney (Defense Media Activity). US Army: Sgt. Dominic Atlas; Venetia Gonzales (Army Rapid Capabilities Office). US Coast Guard: Corinne Zilnicki. DoD Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (HELIOS). Office of the Secretary of War Public Affairs (Perdix) Creative Commons: Israel Ministry of Defense (Iron Beam, CC BY-SA 4.0); Simon Burchell (CC BY-SA 4.0); Colin Smith / geograph.org.uk (CC BY-SA 2.0); National Police of Ukraine (CC BY 4.0); Hassocks5489 and Rhetos (CC0) Map: Natural Earth (public domain). 3D sequences are original illustrations made for this film, not DragonFire's real design. Music and narration made for this film. Thumbnails: composites of MoD photos (HMS Dragon, DragonFire's beam director and its night firing). DragonFire is not yet fitted to a Type 45. The appearance of US Department of Defense visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.