For the first time, a British soldier fired a laser weapon

It’s not a scene from Star Wars. Regular British Army troops have operated a high-powered laser weapon mounted on an armored fighting vehicle for the first time.

Soldiers from the British 16th Royal Artillery regiment in Wales used a laser installed on a Wolfhound combat vehicle to hit several aerial targets, the British Ministry of Defense said Wednesday.

The new laser weapon, which is being developed as part of the Ministry of Defence’s Land-based Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) demonstration programme, “reflects Britain’s commitment to accelerating the creation of practical lasers that can be mounted on ships and vehicles land”, says the Ministry’s note.

The strength of the British armed forces is falling to historic lows: the army is now smaller than at any other timesince the post-Napoleonic War, and three large warshipsincluding the UK’s only two amphibious assault vessels, were recently decommissioned due to budget cutsnote or .

These reductions have been a regular occurrence since the end of World War II. However, the current geopolitical situation and lessons learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean that this reduction must be addressed maintaining or even improving capabilities from each of the British media.

Thus, the strategy of the British armed forces now is to ensure that, every time, for example, a combat ship is taken out of service, all future ships must be much more advanced and capableto the point of a new ship match two old ones.

It is in this context that the Ministry of Defense’s commitment to laser weapons as a force multiplier.

Laser weapons have a series of advantagesespecially when it comes to . The lasers travel at the speed of lightas ammunition is virtually unlimitedeach ammunition (not counting equipment costs) costs a dollar and can hit multiple targets.

According to a note from the Ministry of Defense, during recent military exercises, at Radnor Range, in Wales, soldiers operated a high energy laser weapons (HELWS) from Raytheon, having destroyed a series of drone targets using the weapon’s sensors and tracking systems, locking onto targets in real time.

“All the actions we take removed a drone from the sky. Although we tested a variety of distances, speeds and altitudes, one thing was constant: how quickly a drone can be eliminated“, said the officer Matthew Andersonleader of the British Army’s Mounted Combat Test and Development Group.

“It’s definitely a capability that can be added to the arsenal of weapons we use on the battlefield,” added the British military officer.

In January, the British Ministry of Defense had announced the development of a ship-mounted high-power laser, which could visible” at the speed of light. Each shot from the new weapon, named DragonFirelasts 10 seconds and costs less than 11.68 euros.

“This type of cutting-edge weaponry has the potential to revolutionize the battlefieldreducing dependence on expensive ammunition, whilst also decreasing the risk of collateral damage”, said the British Defense Secretary at the time, Grant Shapp.