The U.K. Ministry of Defense (MOD) has awarded £30 million contract to produce Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) Capability Demonstrator to U.K. Dragonfire consortium, led by MBDA. The project will assess innovative LDEW technologies and approaches, culminating in a demonstration of the system in 2019. The contract will assess how the system can pick up and track targets at various ranges and in varied weather conditions over land and water, to allow precision use.
The project will inform decisions on the future of the program and help the MOD’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) establish a road map to an in-service capability. If it is successful, the first laser weapons would come into service in the mid-2020s.
Minister for Defense Procurement, Harriet Baldwin said: “The U.K. has long enjoyed a reputation as a world leader in innovation and it is truly ground-breaking projects like the Laser Directed Energy Weapon which will keep this country ahead of the curve.”
The Defense Innovation Initiative and £800 million Defense Innovation Fund aim to encourage imagination, ingenuity and entrepreneurship, in pursuit of maintaining a military advantage in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment