The British Army has fired a laser weapon from an armoured vehicle for the first time in a successful test which saw the “groundbreaking technology” destroy flying drones.
The laser was mounted on a vehicle known as a Wolfhound and soldiers were able to track and down hovering targets at Radnor Range in mid-Wales, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
The weapon works by directing an intense beam of infrared light towards its target, using sensors and tracking systems to lock on to and eliminate them.
The MoD said laser weapons could be a cost-effective alternative to some current weaponry because they are “virtually limitless” in terms of ammunition supply.
Warrant officer Matthew Anderson, trials manager for the British Army’s Mounted Close Combat Trials and Development Group, said: “Every engagement we’ve done has removed a drone from the sky.
“While we’ve been testing a variety of distances, speeds and altitudes, one thing has remained – how quick a drone can be taken out.
“It’s definitely a capability that could be added to the arsenal of weapons that we use on the battlefield.”
Stephen Waller, a team leader at the MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support agency, said drones are being used more in battlespaces and the laser weapons would give UK troops a “better operational advantage”.
And defence procurement minister Maria Eagle said: “This groundbreaking technology demonstrates Britain’s commitment to staying at the forefront of military innovation.
“The successful testing of this laser weapon system represents a significant step forward in our development of possible future defence capabilities and showcases British engineering excellence.”
Earlier this month the head of the armed forces warned that the world stands at the dawn of a “third nuclear age” in which Britain is threatened by multiple dilemmas.
But alongside his stark warning of the threats facing Britain and its allies, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said there would be only a “remote chance” Russia would directly attack or invade the UK if the two countries were at war.
The Chief of the Defence Staff laid out the landscape of British defence in a wide-ranging speech, after a minister warned the Army would be wiped out in as little as six months if forced to fight a war on the scale of the Ukraine conflict.
The admiral cast doubt on the possibility as he gave a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) defence think tank in London.
He told the audience Britain needed to be “clear-eyed in our assessment” of the threats it faces, adding: “That includes recognising that there is only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia on the United Kingdom, and that’s the same for the whole of Nato.”
Moscow “knows the response will be overwhelming”, he added, but warned the nuclear deterrent needed to be “kept strong and strengthened”.
