UK Tests Its Most Powerful Laser Air Defense System In Ukraine
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- Опубліковано 19 кві 2024
- On April 12, 2024, there was a small sensation. British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said that he does not rule out the delivery of a prototype of the British combat laser to Ukraine. And it is not necessary to wait for 100% readiness of this weapon. Although earlier it was reported that Britain does not plan to supply such weapons to Ukraine. Especially since the British army will receive the combat laser no later than 2027.
- Наука та технологія
If only 50% effective, just imagine the value it will add in saving lives and cost during a test phase!!! !
Just imagine if it was above us n could vaporise anything they wanted below
@@alridd7038 Well you can use solar powered lasers on satellites, no not saying solar as in panels no.
Solar focusing chamber. Think of it as a gaint refraction telescope, light goes in, is refracted to a point say 1inch wide and fired through a crystal which stabilises the light keeps it focused as a beam. Think how bright our star is, then you can position the satellite anywhere around the Earth and if say 1000km above the surface? Doesn't matter what side as light would still pass around the Earth.
Oh and hahaha light travels just shy of 1.2 BILLION kmh, about 671 million mph, good luck dodging that. You could be sat say in NYC having a coffee at 2pm minding your own business and *BOOM* you're a pile of ash and it only took a few milliseconds from very high orbit.
@@alridd7038 What is the point of making space lasers when back down here on earth we are already able to, within 10 minutes, absolutely obliterate anything we want anywhere on the planet.
@@MarpyPlarpy maybe because lasers are more difficult to defend against than missiles
@@boberKurwa23 Current anti-nuclear technology is only installed in a few places in the world and have a hard time trying to hit alot of the newer advanced missiles that dont travel in a straight line.
Every war is a testing ground for weapons, new or not.
Not Canada !! :) haha. We have nothing. We give everything we've got to Ukraine. They said that we would only have ammunitions for 3 days fighting if there was a war, and that was months ago so it's probably even less right now. If anyone wanted to take over Canada... now is the perfect time. Soldiers are sleeping in their cars, our military have people who don't even know if they are a boy or girl or cat or dog... now is the perfect time!!!
War - Where profits are made!
@@TropicShade Which is why the US has always been heavily invested...
The Brits made clear in the seventies that music cannot be reproduced using a laser beam. They are an ignorant lot. Who did they steal it from?
God knows who the Brits stole that thing from. Technology like that is beyond them.
Well done Britain
You realise these videos are complete rubbish right?
On both sides. AI generated rubbish with nothing to prove them as a fact.
So... you are just gonna believe what an faceless and nameless bot is telling you?
Dude you should be worried. Have some media criticality, don't believe anything you see or hear on these kind of platforms without cheking the facts.
👍
Yes well done in supporting Zelensky as he continues to send young men to die at the behest of his US masters. With the UK politely wagging its tail.
I’m British and I’m happy with that decision but not supplying tanks and planes defending Ukraine fine not poking the bear so much.we all gonna die paddy uk 🇬🇧
Obelisk of light? Good old C&C memories.
😍
German doesn't share its Taurus missiles Heir Scholz hasn't the balls.
The Germans used the Spanish Civil War of 1937 to test their weapons, just as the Soviets used the 1973 Yom Kippur war to test their MANPADs against Israeli jets. This is normally what happens during proxy wars throughout history.
Such a most Wonderful Step in weapon Technology
I must say, if it is a prototype then that is good enough.
It makes me proud to be A Genuine Brit. Technology is being led, in so many directions, and Many of them are British. We Do Our Part in NATO, unlike some others
Great video, if a little inaccurate. The UK is and has been the world’s leading experts on LASER technology and tons of other crazy Technologies.
Never underestimate us on this little archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. I haven’t the time to go through more. Here’s just one example.
Did you know that the early awesome Abrams Main Battle Tank was Brimming with UK Tech. As follows.
A: The barrel. B: The LASER Range finder. C: And only the best Chobham composite Armour on the planet.
Back in the day I worked on the LASER. Just as a finishing thought (This is no longer Classified. Erm! I bloody hope it’s not) attenuation of the Beam due to smoke,mist or dust isn’t much of a problem for our LASER, you need to get the frequency spot on and the Pulse frequency and Duration spot on.
And before anyone has a Hissy Fit in the comments, The State of the Art of cutting edge technology or Peer Reviewed papers only has a Half Life of around 40 Years or so.
Take Care you Wonderful People of the USA. ❤️🇬🇧❤️🇺🇸❤️. I’m getting into Yoga so I’m ready to kiss my Arse Goodbye when it all Kicks off. Hahaha.
Where’s me Pint. 👍
lol leave your dream
@@scalpscalp2621 Hi there. I’m sorry to trouble you and make myself look like a complete Twat, what does Leave your dream mean. 👍
@@scalpscalp2621 It's one of only 3 trillion dollar tech economies in the world & a leading center for academic research & discovery. A world leader in fields from AI to Fusion & yes laser technology where it's home to worlds most powerful the Vulcan used by scientists to unlock the secrets of the universe. Note Dragonfire is 50Kw & Vulcan 20000000000000Kw.
So you think the UK stands a chance in front of Russia? 🤣🤣
@@chief5161Where did he say that? Learn to read FFS
Its good enough for the hand of NOD its good enough for us British!
peace trough power down with GDI
IN THE NAME OF KANE!
Obelisk of Light?
The lasers can be trumped by coating the missile in a highly reflective surface, which would not be expensive to implement even on existing stock...
I am glad to find C&C fans here
What I think people need to remember is that this (if successful) will be used in tandem with other defense systems such as the US patriot. Any attempt at reflection to prevent damage from the Dragonfire would make radar signatures greater and easier for patriot systems to engage. Any target that tries to absorb radar for stealth will be more susceptible to laser weaponry. Any weapon system that attempts to foil both would be massively expensive to research, manufacture and operate and be a minor economic victory in its own right
Goodnight, China!
I think they should to test them out😊
Just the name of it 'combat laser' Go Britain ❤
It’s like “Missile Command” a game we used to play on the Atari!
the only worry is captured tech finding its way to China or Iran
I think a good starting test spot for such equipment would be in Kiev.
i wish id read your comment before i posted mine :)
55kw - that's a Tesla battery discharging in a couple of seconds rather than hours. At 5km its still on a 4 inch target so should make a decent hole in anything sub-sonic. Once its in the field in Ukraine improvements will come rapidly as upgrades can be tested easily - think Formula 1 cars, and how they improve over the course of a season. (Most of those are UK made)
To your Tesla claim, no, it isn't. Most Tesla cars can produce more than 200kW for considerably more than a few seconds!
A quick google shows that you can buy capacitors with that kind of delivery relatively cheaply, dont know what the duty cycle is for them - these sort of weapons aren't going to run sustained and will be susceptible to swarm tactics so you'll have to run multiple (100s) in a network for decent coverage; so the cost will be in the command and control. The power delivery will have a lot of dropoff with increasing distance so you'd be targetting the optics which reduces accuracy but not lethality of incoming drones / missiles. Systems like this are going to operate much like Flak cannons.
@@mattk79 true, a lot of tesla batteries have 103kWh, which means it can deliver a power output of 103 kW for one hour, a lot more than 55kw for a few seconds
@@spacechannelfiver your swarm tactic argument doesn't add up because a missile defense system (S300,400,500, patriot, ...) is waaaay more susceptible to swarming than laser systems as they can only launch one rocket at a time and have up to 4 rockets loaded in one system. Lasers on the othe rhand can be fired more frequently at more targets.
That Tesla battery would run the laser for 20 minutes of beam time.
They will likely send it, that’s why they are talking about it.
for a couple of bucks its worth it...another layer of protection even if its 55 meters or 5000 meters it will save lives
Yes the British should test that in Ukraine!.
Actually the beam won't be visible for another reason, it's not in the visible wave length, it's IR.
You are on the right track my friend. The Laser we worked on wasn’t IR it was UV at that time. Take Care
The vocals on the report makes my ears bleed. The pitch is painful.
Probably covering weapons with reflective layers protect them against laser. Very complicated technolgy. I hope that will work.
Whether it's a testing or not Ukraine can be the right place right time to test and make accuracy adjustments to it's expected results. The time is perfectly fitting for testing this creative.
I love your point on who cares if Ukraine is being used as a testing ground. All the costs are on the UK! It's all upside for Ukraine!
Slight note on the power, the system has less power than American systems but the focal area is significantly smaller so the actual power/surface area is about equivelent.
This weapon will be a good addition to the batteries of missile / Gepard defences around key targets. The cost and supply of these missiles is a constant problem. A laser that just needs an electrical supply however only needs to be supplied and maintained, so if it is only effective against drones it will be useful because it will mean less £250,000 missiles expended against £20,000 drones
How about installing them on UK boarders
Several lasers could be combined to hit the same target from different angles and using the same radar system, It could also be used to destroy the sensors of a target.
Imagine being a soldier and whenever that shit fires you get a speed and strength buff
Each soldier will soon have a powerful laser in his pocket.
Nice one mate. The SAS already have them, they use them for Shaving their faces. It’s called Laser Ablation. If you want that Nuclear Flash Gillette smoothness look. Look no further. (Read the Terms And Conditions). Comes with free plastic surgery vouchers. Hahaha. Lol.
here we go girls and boys it's the UK on the case with something that might end up a brilliant defence weapon against just about anything.Wonderful stuff and may dragonfire continue to excel.
Good reporting
One thing about a laser if it fires and there is a visible light from it you can target the source. The same thing with a rifle mussel flash.
Kermit’s all grown up
"Ukraine has no rainy season" Ok, how do you explain all the mud during the fall then? 🤣
Well done E. T
If there are any problems with this laser system real-live action will soon show any defects which can be corrected.
Best way to test any new system.
And if Ukraine experts are involved we could see this weapon improved on very quickly, I suppose it depends on whether Ukraine has anyone with expertise in laser technology. We know they are very good at detecting and targeting drones already, having improved on western systems like the patriot.
I imagine this thing eats up electricity like the devil, but if it could have a dedicated and protected power source, then this could go a long way toward alleviating Ukrainian supply issues. At any rate, well done Brits. You're an example to follow.
4:18 "It's not as powerful as American combat lasers" - Dragonfire has the potential to be the most powerful combat laser ever built, US is bound to overtake but when scaled up it will be for now more powerful than American combat lasers. Lockheed Martin's laser is 500KW but only has an accuracy 5-10cm/km which is 100-50kw per 1cm at a range of 1 kilometre. Dragonfire is 50kw has an accuracy of 1cm/km, which is also 50kw per 1cm at a range of 1 kilometre. Not only is Dragonfire doing a lot more with a lot less, it is also very feasible to scale up, even to just say 250kw in which case it would output 250kw per 1 cm at a range of 1 kilometre which is much better than the conservative estimate for the Lockheed Martin design. In lasers power is not just the wattage put also the accuracy, the more focused a laser the more kinetic & thermal energy it imparts on an area. You have to remember accuracy in lasers isn't the same as ballistics, the longer the range the more the laser disperses, the beam becomes wider and therefore less powerful. It could still accurately target an area 2km away but the effectiveness of the laser is lessened, the more focused the laser the less dramatic this effect.
It may not currently be the most powerful laser but it is very clearly the most effective.
Yes please send the stuff :)
Doesnt really need to burn, just blind...ya dig.
The discussion about range (1 km, 2 km, ???) is problematic. Those numbers do not consider the target altitude, attitude, and composition. As noted, high velocity rockets are sturdy metallic structures that are not affected by a few kW of power. But, small drones made of wood, plastic, fiberglass, or other light weight materials can be easily disabled with a few kW of power. Such drones can be hit more than 10 km away if they are high enough above the ground.
They did not say the range of DragonFire is 1 - 2 km, rather they were referring to a measure of accuracy, stating that, 'at a range of 1km it can hit a target the size of a £1 coin (24.43mm diameter). Surface level fire is limited to 5km due to the curvature of the earth. However, when fired skyward the DragonFire laser will behave much like sunlight which manages two travel 93 million miles, albeit the sun is a bit more powerful, but then again we're unlikely to need to hit something quite that far away, at least for the foreseeable future.
We Brits have a history of opposing nazis. With allies when we can, alone if necessary. Russians, on the other hand allied with them.
Excuse me - Ukraine is run by Nazis.
@@cybervigilante Swing and a miss, my guy.
If it can burn threw metal it disintegrate clouds and rain 🌧️ they should turn the power up and the production sounds and looks great for a first few tests
Just missing a foreword from Austin Powers🇬🇧 Groovy Baby Yeah
Why not, send it in
This could be a game changer in Ukraine.
Huh. A familiar voice. Thanks for the ProRevenge bits that you do whoever you are sir.
well British scientists want to be real geniuses, the big bowl of popcorn is incoming.
Russia already lost for their size the really screwed up.
David and goliath bro David and goliath
They didn't burn through a moving mortar. The downward flowing molten metal is a clear sign of that. So who is to say how long it actually takes to burn through.
Just make sure Ukraine doesn’t run out of electricity before this help comes
With this kind of weapon, what does this mean for future warefare? Will it be possible to insulate or could it mean the end of both warplane and drones?
Such a system would replace missile or ammunition based defensive systems such as Patriot or Phalanx CIWS. The ability to intercept anything from a drone to a cruise missile at several miles range or even aircraft for the price of a Big Mac meal would be game changing. Eventually as these lasers scale up in power even threats such as Ballistic/Hypersonic missiles would be able to be intercepted.
Most interesting video! Thank You UK for assisting Ukraine in this testing of imperatively important laser weapon. This US taxpayer really appreciates it!
Be interesting of a Super Capacitor bank could power such a weapon from a hovering flying drone.
Your welcome 🇬🇧
Send it but not one, send a lot.
It's a really good idea!
The only Problem I see is that its relatively easy to make a drone laser proof by coating it in heat resistant material. That stuff may be expensive, but way cheaper than the Laser weapon.
That always going to be the case, missile then anti missile then anti missile, missile.
If it saves lives in Ukraine I’m all for it
Do lasers poke holes in the O-Zone layer? 😅
Summary : useful and cost effective.
Sounds like a weapon with a lot of, ifs and buts.
Multiple targets should be simple, and it should work the same with an optical splitter because there is no light signal loss, and should be more efficient as a weapon since it will now be capable of Multiple targets acquisition with a single beam. Or I'm wrong. 😊
I had no idea there were Hussites in the red sea. I always believet there were only the Huthis. The more you learn.
people believe what they want to. Simply diversify the flight path every two seconds, and the laser won't be able to hold onto it's target long enough to do damage. Plus, fly a concert of drones or missiles arriving at same time, you would need just as many lasers to take them out.
oh no a lesser beem weapon that cost 30$
let me get my 10$ paint with glass color to cover my drone
Cost might not be the biggest advandage. In my oppionion logistics would be. It only takes some fuel. Not an entire new rocket.
If it's Over 1 MegWatt it may be worth it ---- remember, It Fair Weather Technology! ALSO, you'd be amazed the "Accuracy" required at a 10 to 12 Mile Distance (say the Horizon) - only one ARC SECOND INACCURACY you could be OFF By a Matter Of Feet.
totally true. That's the problem we had in the 80s. And it only got worse for hitting missiles as they launched. The accuracy needed was insane, the wavelengths capable of not diffracting where unreachable and the energy needed to power them still has not been invented 40 years later.
If you read my earlier post you'll see why I suspect we're looking at 600Kw beam output not 50Kw.
Yes
Line of sight till you raise the line of sight, this can be done you can even use it for ground targets if needed.
Meaning you could actually make it far more powerful and redirect it.
And you will have more then enough time to pull the system out if danger comes near.
The redirections could be done with drones with a Galvo system.
So yes ground targets after a 3 point laser homes in to a crystal rod inside a parabola recombining the beam into the galvo.
And goes pew pew.
Advantage!
YOU CAN BEAM IN MORE THEN ONE LASER.
Or intern beam splitter more galvo's more targets at once's depending on what it is.
and if you use such system the range can be way more.
Relay relay relay SUNTAN!!
And those drones can be made quit cheaply.
Plus the advantage of using drones as relays also makes it LESS vulnerable and or instantly replaced by a other.
multi relay drones can also hit the same target from different sides.
Or on the fly relocate to get a better shoot.
AND you could use it to send data to.
Relay data.
The several seconds can be reduced to make it stronger.
IT should make plasma in the air when fired just by hitting oxygen :p
7:37 omg Leslie Nielsen!
You can blame it on the salt corrosion 🚓
Imagine there being clouds.
Where to plug in on front lines?
It will be mounted on a truck with generators.
Star Wars becoming a reality.
I’ve heard this voice before
Action go is needed
besides this purely defensive, to help defense civilians from Russian missiles and drone attacks, so I don't see a problem unless Dragon fire doesn't work.
Lidi chtějí žít bez zbraní a bez válek.
How effective would this laser be against a target with a highly reflective coating of some kind?
(1-R) where R is the reflectance of the surface. In general this will be a function of the frequency/wavelength of the incident light, but can also be non isotropic so have a different value for different spacial directions.
Can it destroy nuclear missile flying in the air and on another country's land ? If yes - go & use it !
Brilliant stuff.Hoorah!Thank goodness those boffins have found a way to counteract the ceaseless - indeed endless - daily incursions of funny foreigners.
My piece of tinfoil says No.
Advances will continue, hotter fire
Lasers are cool 😎
It will get located very quickly and terminated, like everything else...
Command and Conquer in real life
Bummer, not strong enough to penetrate through nukes
Hopefully they will only sell these to the most trustworthy allies. That means, not Turkey, not Hungary.
Why is this guy yelling at me?
I've no idea - lets see how its gets on. IMO probably good for destroying shahed lawn mowers and front-line FPVs.
Plus Heaters ? .
pting
Finally the future is here :D
What prevents the enemy from not just coating the missile in reflective paint?
A laser is a high power energy beam & whatever it hits can't absorb that amount of energy. The target's molecules vibrate faster & faster trying to shed that extreme amount of energy heating up until they vaporise. All this happens in a fraction of a second nothing you make or coat the target with could reflect or absorb that much power. A 50Kw beam can cut through 100mm of Carbon steel plate in less than half a second.
@@ZuulGatekeeper don’t mirrors reflect lasers?
phasers at the ready captain photon torpedoes armed and ready captain... lets show them Klingons who's boss scotty... FIRE whoop whoop whoop wurrrr wurrrr wuuur
Hebrides is pronounced Heb rid ees not “ Heb rides”. Do your research properly.
Snap, queen. Pop off.
How does something that is only 23mm weigh 1 pound?
So power for these advanced defence tools is the weak point..cut the juice, and you have no functioning tools..
Interesting. I still wonder if someone were to send enough guided missiles simultaneously towards a group of lasers... would they be able to stop all of them? Perhaps eventually, 1 or 2 will get through and knock a couple out. eventually all would be out. Perhaps missiles will have some extremely shiny mirror coating on it which would make the laser less effective. Like anything... eventually there will be countermeasures taken.
The problem with shiny coatings is they reflect radar really well, making it easier for radar-guided anti-missile weapons to lock onto it. You can avoid lasers or avoid counter missiles. You cannot avoid both. For defensive purposes, lasers compliment conventional anti-missile defences extremely well.
If these things are already mildly effective, imagine what Israel has up it's sleeve. U.S. is rumored to have very powerful ray guns mounted in 747's and the spontaneous combustions in Panama years ago point to its possible use.
Something wrong with the technical data. 50Kw beam using semi-conductor lasers at typical efficiency should consume about 150Kw. $13 of electricity is about 20KwH. So for a 150Kw drain to use 20KwH it would take (20KwH/150Kw) 0.13Hours. That's 8 minutes. And there's the problem. There's no way they're talking about each shot being 8 minutes long. More likely they're talking about 10 or 20 seconds long. So the number MOD are giving out are massively wrong. Now lets say someone has misunderstood something and the actual number is not 50Kw but 50Kw per square centimeter. And lets say it's optimal initial attack distance is whilst target is 3 Km away. With a targeting accuracy of just 23mm at 1Km range, the incident laser beam is going to wander across an area of approximately 9x that area at 3Km range. Lets do the math asussing its a typo in MOD documentation. The smallest area the targeting crystals will be able to maintain is approx imately 12cm squared. 15cm2*50KwPer Cm = 12*50 Kw = 600Kw total beam power. Now lets feed that back into my initial test which showed MOD figurtes have a 'typo' in them. How long would it take for a 600Kw semi-conductor laser, to use $13 of electricity at a typical 33% efficiency. Given all the approximations in here already, the answer is between 10 and 20 seconds. So this is much more likely the beams total time of incidence compared with 480 seconds for a mere 50KwH total beam energy. So my advice to Putin is RUN! As otherwise the brits are going to tattoo "looser" on you ass, with their shiny new 600Kw laser tattooing machine.
Fuel on the battle field costs 10 to 100X normal prices. I think that is the disconnect. A diesel generator can produce about 5 kW-h per gallon of fuel. A 10 second 50kW laser shot at 150kW electrical input uses 0.4 kW-h. If fuel costs $30 per gallon then a 10 second shot costs $2.40. There are other overhead items to consider such as thermal cooling and house keeping. That will drive the cost up to the range of $10. As for the power level, 50kW over a 2.3 cm spot is 4 kW/cm2. Imagine taking a magnifying glass and focusing the sun on these threat systems. That's what we are talking about.
Great post Sir. With all new state of the art Military tech advances the MOD can’t give any Sensitive specifics away to Naughty China.
Back in the day, 70’s I was a Vacuum Engineer at GEC Applied Physics. We developed the LASER Range Finder for the Abrams tank.
Co2 mixed with other gases, helping to cut down on the attenuation of the beam in the fog of war.
I’m looking forward to seeing more progress on our BAE systems Railgun. 👍
50 kilowatts? Just enough to boil a kettle on then.
The heat at the point of contact of a 50 kW laser is 1430°C or 2606°F after five seconds. That's a bit higher than the boiling point for water...
@@Lili_Chen2005 Just when I thought the tea might give it away as British humour..