MBDA to deliver DragonFire LDEW for RN Type 45 destroyers

The DragonFire MDC programme has grown out of the DragonFire LDEW capability demonstrator (pictured). This has de-risked and demonstrated key technologies, including coherent beam combining. (Richard Scott/NAVYPIX)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded MBDA a GBP316 million (USD414 million) contract to develop and integrate an initial production-standard DragonFire laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) on Royal Navy (RN) warships.

Announced on 20 November 2025, the 29-month contract covers the delivery of a DragonFire Minimum Deployable Capability (MDC) to provide Type 45 destroyers with an additional layer of defence against unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threats. A first ship integration is planned before the end of 2027.

MBDA, leading a team of Leonardo and QinetiQ, has previously built and tested a 50 kW-class DragonFire sovereign LDEW capability demonstrator to prove critical technologies at a weapon system level: notably the ability to acquire, track, engage, and defeat relevant targets and establish a credible sovereign LDEW capability.

A key discriminating feature of DragonFire is the use of coherent beam combining technology. Matured by QinetiQ in conjunction with the MoD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), coherent beam combining offers improved beam quality and higher accuracy in contrast to non-coherent techniques.

The DragonFire demonstrator, housed in a 40 ft ISO container, has completed a number of tracking and firing trials on MoD ranges since late 2021, with the two most recent campaigns taking place at the MoD Hebrides range during 2025. The first of these, performed over a six-week period running from March to May 2025, involved extensive tracking and firing trials against small Class 1 UASs. Further trials, completed during October, tested the DragonFire demonstrator against larger drone targets.