By Sean Rayment
Laser weapons capable of shooting down drones will be fitted to military vehicles to help protect airfields from terrorist attacks, National Security News can reveal.
Tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and reconnaissance vehicles will be equipped with lasers designed to blast drones out of the sky from distances of more than half a mile.
Defence experts have said the laser-armed vehicles could be used to protect airfields, sensitive locations such as GCHQ, and other areas of critical national infrastructure from swarm drone attacks launched by terrorist groups or hostile nations.
Details of the new laser capability emerged as Britain begins ramping up its defence spending to counter threats from Russia and China.
The UK will spend 4.1 per cent of its GDP on defence by 2027, rising to five per cent of GDP by 2025.
At a recent NATO summit, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said increased defence spending was vital to counter threats both at home and abroad.
The lasers, known as directed energy weapons, work by firing an intense beam of infrared light at a target, causing it to heat up and explode.
The weapons will also be equipped with advanced sensors capable of tracking drones and ensuring that the laser remains locked onto the target before firing.
Unlike conventional weapons, lasers can hit a target at the speed of light and are virtually limitless in terms of ammunition.
This means that, for certain threats — such as small drones — lasers represent a more cost-effective alternative to current in-service weapons.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in the Strategic Defence Review earlier this month that it would be investing £1 billion in lasers.
Details of the plan have been revealed by the MoD in a “preliminary market engagement notice” to defence companies, seen by National Security News and the Mail on Sunday.
In the document, the MoD said it was seeking a “Laser Directed Energy Weapon to destroy small unmanned air systems (drones) at ranges of 1 km+,” adding that “availability to deliver within 12 months ideally” would be required.
The document added that the system must also be “hosted on a land vehicle platform,” such as an armoured vehicle or tank.
Defence companies will have to demonstrate the capability of their systems, meaning they must be able to destroy a drone in flight. The value of the contract is £20 million.
Earlier this month, the MoD also revealed that it was planning to develop a new fleet of drones capable of being launched from Transit vans.
Under a programme called Project Volley, defence chiefs want to create a delivery system that can be fitted into civilian vehicles and launch up to five drones in four minutes.
The plan is almost identical to an attack carried out by Ukraine earlier this month against the Russian air force.
In that attack, drones flew out of shipping containers and destroyed more than 40 Russian aircraft, including strategic bombers.
Colonel Philip Ingram, a former Army intelligence officer, said the development of lasers to destroy drones was vital for national security.
He said: “A contract to produce and field a vehicle-mounted laser system for destroying battlefield drones is very sensible and a world leader.
“As we have seen in Ukraine, the drone threat to vehicles and personnel is huge. To be able to shoot them down with a capability that will cost pence per shot, rather than thousands of pounds per missile, and operate at the speed of light is fantastic — and needed.
“This capability could be used to guard critical national infrastructure, including airfields and other sensitive sites across the UK, and has a role in national resilience as well as on the military battlefield. This can’t come quickly enough.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We are delivering on the Strategic Defence Review’s vision to put the UK at the leading edge of innovation in NATO by investing nearly £1 billion in Directed Energy Weapons this Parliament.
“A new Directed Energy Weapon will be created for the British Army this decade, alongside DragonFire being integrated on four Royal Navy warships.
“Following the successful trial of a high-energy laser weapon mounted on a British Army Wolfhound armoured vehicle, we are engaging the market to help inform future decisions on procurement.”
