DragonFire is a British 50+ kW power laser weapon. Development of the weapon began in 2018, led by leading UK companies such as: MBDA UK, Leonardo UK and QinetiQ Group.

The system was designed to destroy drones, but now the British military command sees it as a powerful enough tool to intercept artillery ammunition, cruise missiles, and even ballistic missiles.

The weapon works by focusing 37 channels of 1.5kW laser beams, arranged in a hexagonal array, and combining them with mirrors to merge and amplify the power.

A huge advantage of the system over classical air and missile defense systems is its low cost of operation: according to the British Ministry of Defense, the cost of a shot is around £10 (about UAH 496). By comparison, the cost of modern anti-aircraft missiles can range up to several million dollars per unit.

In March 2024, the British Ministry of Defense showed the results of one of the DragonFire tests, during which the system successfully intercepted a quadcopter and an artillery mine.

The maximum range of destruction of air targets remains unknown. During the tests, the system destroyed a drone and caused an artillery mine to explode in less than five seconds.

The radiation from the power plant is invisible and silent, as the beam wavelength is 1 micron. It is close to the infrared spectrum of light, and therefore invisible to the human eye.

It is noted that the newest laser system had high accuracy: it could hit a coin at a distance of one kilometer.

Matt Cork, a project manager at DSTL, said that DragonFire might be handed over for “user experimentation” to a number of army personnel in September. The terrestrial version of DragonFire is still intended as a ground-based air defense technology and will be mounted on a truck, at which point British Army experts will give feedback on how it could be improved and highlight any problems.

The UK plans to transfer DragonFire laser weapon to Ukraine - Militarnyi

It is close to the infrared spectrum of light, and therefore invisible to the human eye.

Ah Bollocks, that's a shame...

Don't think I've read about any other experimental tech the UK is donating tbh, but hopefully it's at least observable by the human eye, want some pyrotechnics for our money! 

Ukraine already got very new tech. As example Iris-T which Ukraine got before Germany got it themselves. TRML-4D radar, they also got SurveilSpire, Skynex and the best reconnaissance drones Germany has and I'm sure Ukraine also got some new tech from many other countries.

They just don't get enough of anything and it should maybe only be placed where it won't fall in Russia's hands after some land advances but I think not much speaks against giving Ukraine a lot of new stuff to protect their airfields, factories, power plants and obviously their cities overall

I'll believe it when I see it.

Russia uses every day, week and month to inflict significant damage. Unfortunately, assistance to Ukraine is still limited, and the Russian state still has access to critical components needed to produce missiles and drones.

Each missile targeting Ukraine contains at least dozens of components – electronics, chips – supplied by companies from other countries and imported through the territory of Russia's neighbors. The "Shahed" drones also contain components produced in the free world. All of this must and can be stopped: the connivance at terror, the ability of terrorists to seek accomplices around the world, and all forms of Russian terror itself.

Modern aviation proves its effectiveness, modern air defense systems are capable of protecting lives – this was demonstrated in the Middle East when aviation and air defense shot down Iranian missiles and "Shahed" drones aimed at Israel.

The whole world sees what real defense is. It sees that it is feasible.

🙄🙄🙄

I have always liked Gen. David Petraeus.

Petraeus says Iran attack is a ‘very big deal’

Former CIA Director David Petraeus called the Iranian attack on Israel a “very big deal” in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Well, it is significant. It’s a very big deal. And I think Israel will have to take some action in response, I think it’s very clear that the U.S. would like to see that be as limited as is possible. Keep in mind that the real issue here, in addition to Israel’s security, of course, which is first and foremost, but it’s also about freedom of navigation from the Gulf or the oil and gas that come from the Gulf and fuel much of the global economy,” he continued.

Petraeus said he thinks it’s in everyone’s interest not to continue escalating the situation, noting Iran likely wants to be careful to preserve freedom of navigation in the Gulf, since they export more than a million barrels of oil each day and likely do not want to interfere with that.

“That’s the biggest issue here. And Iran, I don’t think, wants to have that disrupted either, because they export about 1.6 or 1.7 million barrels a day themselves. So, keep your eye on that. Brent Crude is already above $90 a barrel, and it would really spike if there was something that interfered with freedom of navigation,” he said. “In, fact we need to figure out what’s going on. Iran did take a ship the other day that they claimed was in some way dealing with Israel.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/petraeus-says-iran-attack-is-a-very-big-deal/ar-BB1lBLRn?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=2f11c4caaa3740238abe2a73a3e42d9e&ei=52

It looks like Iran's counter attack is getting the aid bill moving, at least for Israel :/

Biden urges US House to pass bill with $14bn for Israel

I've just thought about something that has annoyed me more, when this bill is passed which includes aid for Ukraine and Israel, only Ukraine's portion of the aid will be a loan and not Israel's, Lol. The Republicans screaming about how much this costs them (incorrectly) so Ukraine's aid must be a loan but they're perfectly okay with spaffing away $14bn for Israel, a country which already has some of the most modern technology in the world and has western countries rushing to its aid with fighter jets unlike Ukraine. Surely they see that Ukraine needs the money far more than Israel does? So either they both should be loans or neither should be a loan.

As for Zelenskyy, I don't blame him, I'm sure he sees what Israel is doing in Gaza but when you're fighting for your life you don't get to be picky in who your allies are, I hate Israel's government but if I were in Zelenskyy's position I too would be trying to charm them, Israel has some of the best AD in the entire world and if they could share even a little bit of that with Ukraine, that would be amazing for Ukrainians. It's a bit like Republicans, if I was in Zelenskyy's position I sure as shit wouldn't be speaking about Republicans like I do in here, he has to try and play nice to practically everyone because the lives of every Ukrainian are in his hands, he has been insanely patient with Republicans and I'm sure behind the scenes he is infuriated by them.

While I'm no fan of Israel/Netanyahu and I believe Iran had a right to respond after Israel bombed an Iranian consulate in Syria, something they didn't even tell America they were going to do because they knew how fucked it was, that doesn't change that Iran also is a terrorist regime backing terrorist proxies Hezbollah and Houthis. Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran, Israel, Hamas, none of them actually give a shit about the innocent Palestinians, they just want their little fights and to wipe each other off the face of the Earth. Just because ISIS hates Russia doesn't make them good for example. They're all just a bunch of religious fanatics and Netanyahu needs his wars going to remain in power. Not to mention Iran violated the airspace of Jordan.

That community note tho.