U.K.’s ‘DragonFire’: A Ray of Hope for Ukraine Amid Russian Invasion

The recent Israel-Palestine conflict, which has escalated into a military confrontation between Iran and Israel, is further heightening tensions in the Middle East. In addition, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war for over two years has destabilized the international situation.

Good news has come to Ukraine, which is currently in a tough battle due to Russia’s surprise invasion. The UK has announced that the supply of its high-powered laser weapon, DragonFire, to Ukraine is ahead of schedule.

Suppose the UK expedites its supply of new weapons to Ukraine. In that case, it is expected to serve as a cost-effective countermeasure to neutralize Russian military drones that have been at the forefront of indiscriminate attacks on military and civilian facilities since the outbreak of the war.

On the 12th, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps reportedly said that the laser weapon system DragonFire, currently under development, could be supplied to Ukraine ahead of schedule.

Ukraine’s current air defense system appears to be struggling against the drone offensive of the Russian military due to its vulnerability. The UK has promised to support Ukraine, emphasizing its willingness to accelerate production and supply.

The UK-developed mass production of DragonFire was initially scheduled for 2032. However, after the successful test firing of the laser weapon against aerial targets in Scotland last January, the timeline was moved up by five years to 2027.

The DragonFire provided to Ukraine is not expected to deliver 100% perfect performance. Due to accelerated mass production and the need to supply weapons to Ukraine quickly, it is speculated that weapons with 70% to 99% performance will be provided.

Secretary of State for Defence Shapps said reportedly, “Even if it’s 70% ready, we can supply it to Ukraine first and then continue development from there.” Considering Ukraine’s urgency, this can be interpreted as an opinion that even a 70% ready weapon is acceptable.

Shapps further revealed his optimism, stating that DragonFire will impact the war highly.

Experts evaluated DragonFire as a game changer that could change the landscape of Ukraine’s vulnerable air defense system when the UK Ministry of Defense released a test launch video last January.

However, the UK Ministry of Defense has not yet disclosed specific performance details. The UK Ministry of Defense has emphasized that DragonFire demonstrated “accuracy enough to hit a one-pound coin from about a mile away.”

The DragonFire, which the UK is so proud of, is a high-powered laser weapon South Korea has already developed. The protagonists are the ground-fixed type Block-I laser anti-aircraft weapon developed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Hanwha.

North Korea is considered a powerhouse in drone weapons. The drone weapon system is the way out that North Korea has found amid its worst economic crisis. North Korea operates a considerable amount of small drones, and there have been cases of violating South Korean airspace a few years ago.

Source: Hanwha Aerospace

To counter this, South Korea has embarked on laser weapons development. If North Korean drones violate our airspace, 20mm Vulcan and 30mm wheeled anti-aircraft guns are mobilized as standard, and if they are medium-sized drones, portable surface-to-air guided weapons ‘Shingung’ and ‘Cheongung’ medium-range surface-to-air guided weapons are used, according to the Ministry of Defense’s response plan.

However, it has been evaluated that it is not only cost-inefficient but also militarily inappropriate to respond to North Korean small drones, which flew into Korean airspace a few years ago, with Shingung or Cheongung, which cost hundreds of millions to billions of won per shot, and that interception itself is not easy.

In addition, if these drones enter densely populated areas, there is a risk of falling shells when shooting down drones, which limits the use of anti-aircraft weapons.

Due to these circumstances, South Korea embarked on laser air defense weapons development in 2019 to complement the gaps in the North Korean small drone response system and to respond to the trend of laser weapon development in advanced countries.

The ground-fixed Block-I laser air defense weapon developed by ADD and Hanwha is expected to be sequentially deployed to the front-line units in the second half of this year.

Last year, Block-I underwent a test evaluation and received combat eligibility from the South Korean Ministry of Defense, confirming its outstanding performance with a 100% hit rate.

Although the output of Block-I has not yet been disclosed in detail, military officials estimate it to be around 20kW, considering the level of development in our country, which is enough to shoot down small drones.

To deploy Block-I this year, the Ministry of Defense is known to have increased the production cost by $1.3 million in this year’s defense budget. If the plan to power laser air defense weapons by 2026 proceeds as expected, South Korea will become the world’s first country to power laser air defense weapons.

A military official said, “We have researched the laser weapon development status of other countries such as the United States, China, Germany, Israel, and France,” and it was reported that “So far, there are countries under test, but no country has deployed them to the military.”

Moreover, Block-I, developed by South Korea, is known to be superior in cost compared to DragonFire. The laser air defense weapon developed by South Korea is confirmed to be a low-cost, high-efficiency weapon system that costs about $1.7 per shot and can be operated anywhere as long as there is electricity. Korea is currently considered to have laser weapon technology at the world’s seventh level.

Meanwhile, South Korean military authorities are currently developing a vehicle-type Block-II that can be operated anywhere.

A defense procurement agency official said about this, “The laser air defense weapon applies an evolutionary development strategy to reflect the rapidly changing global technology development trend in the development process,” and “As the first step, Block-I was successfully developed in April last year, and the improved Block-II project is also expected to be promoted soon.”