The UK government has revealed the DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) will be fitted to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers, beginning in 2027, in a landmark disclosure.
Detailed for the first time, it has been confirmed that the DragonFire LDEW will equip four of the six Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers currently in service.
Which four vessels is still unknown, nor whether DragonFire will be interchangeable through the class depending on availability, as with the old Harpoon anti-ship missiles, or if the LDEW system will be fixed in place.
“The Ministry of Defence has committed to accelerating DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons into operational capability by equipping four [Royal] Navy destroyers with this world leading system, starting in 2027,” stated Maria Eagle, Minister for Defence Procurement, on 1 April.
The UK only operates a single type of destroyer, the Type 45.
“By doing this we are bringing laser technology to the Navy around five years faster than previously planned, which will protect our Armed Forces, and let us learn by doing, helping us to make continual improvements on areas like integration, software, and overall lethality,” Eagle added.
The installation would serve to support development of the DragonFire system, as well as choices the UK government makes on future DEW capabilities, Eagle confirmed. In addition, defence funding committed during the recent Spring Statement would aid in “guaranteeing the in-service date” for DragonFire.
DragonFire and the Type 45: an obvious match
Initially begun in 2017 under the previous Conservative administration, the DragonFire programme is proving to be a shift in defence development policy, having not only survived multiple governments but also seeing a what is effectively a demonstrator platform given a service entry roadmap.
During a rare 2024 visit to Porton Down, home to some of the UK’s most secretive weapons developments, Naval Technology was provided considerable insight into the kind of capabilities that DragonFire has, and aspirations from industrial partners as to how far it could develop.
Test firings at the military Hebrides range proved the concept, with the challenge now to find a way to integrate DragonFire onto the Type 45 destroyers.
The selection of the Type 45 makes sense, with the air defence destroyers the largest surface combatant in service with the Royal Navy and presumably able to generate the power required for LDEW operation.
It should be noted, with the addition of DragonFire, the Type 45 destroyers are developing into highly capable air defence platforms, with the LDEW adding another surface to air capability to the class already due to expand its traditional missile complement with the Sea Ceptor system.
