Ukraine unveils laser weapon ‘based on UK prototypes’

Science and Technology
#1

" Grant Shapps, the then defense secretary, said in April that the UK’s DragonFire laser, which is due to be deployed in 2027, could be used in Ukraine to counter Russian drones and missiles. He said the laser guns, also known as directed energy weapons, could have “huge ramifications” for the conflict, adding that the British military was rushing to get it into service. The DragonFire, built by British scientists, is a revolutionary £10-a-shot laser said to have enough precision to hit a £1 coin over a kilometer away."

I just came across this… Any thoughts?

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#2

Ukraine developed it…sure they did. Likely a prototype given to them and is operated by UK personnel.

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#3

I doubt this tap dance will continue to 2027.

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#4

“Trident could soon help defend Ukraine’s skies. Russian hypersonic missiles, which can travel as fast as 3,800mph, are difficult to target with physical weaponry but could be more easily shot down with a laser beam.”

I guess this is ‘the West’s’ answer/threat response to Russia’s hypersonic weaponry. Imagine trying to intercept anything traveling at Mach 10 that’s capable of changing its destination ‘on the fly’. At the very least, I suppose it could be viewed as a ‘ray’ of hope.

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#5

The missile has a plasma bubble surrounding it. The laser weapon could provide protection against drones however.

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#6

Speaking of “Trident”, the Portuguese Navy Trident Class submarines will be used in a program to simulate space conditions.
“The Portuguese Space Agency, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Portuguese Navy have established a scientific partnership that will use submarines in missions similar to those taking place in space to carry out research into human exploration in space, aiming for future manned space missions.”
No idea what this “Portuguese Space Agency” might be, I’m guessing just another sort of governmental fantasy.

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#7

“The missile has a plasma bubble surrounding it.” This makes so many things make sense now. I heard rumors long ago that the titanium designed SR-71 blackbird could only go Mach 5 at like 80k ft +, because of what was described to me, as millions of super heated vorticity of air around the leading edges of the air-frame. The rumor was they introduced a platinum into the titanium to make an alloy that actually was revealed in the first Iron Man, i digress. Anyway, effectively bringing the Mach 5 envelope down to about 60k ft because of the heat dissipating qualities of Platinum, thus reducing the now understood “plasma” surrounding the air-frame’s heating effects.

This dramatic “Laser” weapon seems to be UK designed and operated, the only thing “Ukrainian” about it is where it is deployed. Probably the more dramatic photon cousin of our Mazer, phased array Microwave non visible kind.

And now i’m wondering if our Mazer system will make thru the plasma surrounding the hypersonics as they come barreling into our airspace…

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#8

I’d be surprised if this time next year this war would still be going. Zelenskyy looked very uncomfortable at Notre Dame, like a kid who is getting a new daddy who prefers the stick approach (unlike the old fossil before who used the carrot approach).

“Your allowance is about to be cut off, son!”

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#9

From what I’ve read they probably have active components like MHD generators in the missile itself. It allows it to control the heat friction drag and form a plasma bubble around the missile. Here is a general public explanation of how it might work

Similar tech is used in nuclear subs to make them more silent. The trick in that case is to use friction as a propelling force, the price to pay is energy for the MHD generators.

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#10

Wow, what an amazing read thank you! So using the friction between the plasma and the air to steer those hypersonic’s, i was wondering how this was achieved!

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#11

There are missiles that can reach speed of Mach 30. Here’s a mere Mach 27 the Russians have. Can any laser even hit them, directly?

https://x.com/CaliberEnglish/status/1870372961586409668

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#12

Mach 27 at sea level is, 760 MPH (Mach 1 at sea level) * 27 = 20,520mph. Surely they aren’t suggesting that missile system is reaching Mach 27 inside the atmosphere? I’m saying at those speeds iron core Meteors are vaporizing thru the atmosphere. It’s a considerable amount of friction, even with a plasma bubble, without a magnetic field holding the plasma off of the missile frame, there is going to be some serious heat generation there. But alas to answer your question, the laser is moving at 3*10^8 meters/second. If you could track it, then yeah you can still hit it!

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#13

Yep, I’m trying to imagine the motor control for aiming a (heavy) laser mechanism that is precise enough and fast enough with no jitter…smooth as glass to aim the laser and keep it on target long enough to melt bits of a missile going mach27. We can do very high precision positioning for sure (telescopes…very slow movements) but fast? A laser blaster is only one part of the system. You have to detect the object, pass the track to the weapon, and figure out what vector to aim the laser toward and then physically move the laser smoothly and precisely. And note the detection and weapon are likely in different locations so there are parallax issues to resolve. Hitting fast movers has been done but under controlled range conditions. Closer is easier, hard requires exponentially higher mechanical positioning precision. So, it might be OK for close range drones, but against hypersonic? A space based version would have an easier time to track and ‘paint’ long enough to melt something important. More favorable angles I think.

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#14

Considering our thermal detection capability is absolutely tremendous and i’m talking down to the personal soldier on the battle field gear, of which i have some experience. The plasma bubble would be easy to spot and lock onto and the frequencies could be tuned to find the metal/missile structure itself. That’s how you see it and follow it. Now, as far as the gearing and mechanics yeah your absolutely right, a small bump with a 1 terawatt laser firing could melt a airplane 10k ft to the right of your target. Yeah you are correct, those are going to need to be finely engineered and well maintained to remain in fine precise working order. I’m also going to agree with you about a space based platform. That would be the favorable “angle” to hit from. I feel like humans could engineer such a system. Also, i’m going to add this is why the Americans moved away from a photon based designed to a pulsed microwave design, less “heavy” to the “Mazer” versus the “Laser.”

I still am doubting the capability of anything to physically move through the atmosphere at those speeds, assuming “Einsteinian physics,” of course.

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