As the United Nations Navy recently announced development of its latest laser weapon system, Britain’s Ministry of Defense has also stepped up and decided to select a contractor to design its own laser weapon system. The $37-million USD contract has been given to UK Dragonfire that is actually a consortium of companies that has experience in development of laser platforms. As per the MoD, the Dragonfire UK will be able to deliver a specific prototype called Laser Directed Energy Weapon and will be in position to examine the system by 2019. During the testing, this LDEW system will be needed to track aims at different ranges as well as climatic conditions. The company also displayed that the system can be deployed in both sea and land.
Peter Cooper who works at the MoD;s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, says, “This is a significant demonstration program aimed at maturing our understanding of what is still an immature technology. It draws on innovative research into high-power lasers so as to understand the potential of the technology to provide a more effective response to the emerging threats that could be faced by UK armed forces.” It is not hard to understand that UK plans to develop its personal laser weapon, it will be quite intriguing to figure out if it looks upon US for support during development.
US defense has already acquired approval for a laser weapon in their arsenal and US will never have problem collaborating with UK. On the contrary, regional economics will always be benefitted with domestic technology development. It will also play a vital role in strengthening fundamental research base of the nation, all these will be significant in innovation incubation.
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