£316 million deal puts laser weapons on Royal Navy’s warships from 2027

December 16, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

Defense company MBDA has been awarded a £316 million contract to deliver new DRAGONFIRE laser weapon systems to the Royal Navy from 2027.

As disclosed, the announcement came as a part of the UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard’s visit to MBDA’s Stevenage site on November 20, 2025.

Chris Allam, UK Managing Director at MBDA, welcomed the new contract, stating, “This latest contract for DRAGONFIRE is another significant milestone. It allows us to continue with the next phase of the programme and re-affirms the UK’s intent to be at the forefront of laser directed energy weapons.”

Within the Minister’s contract announcement was the news that DRAGONFIRE’s most recent trials at the MOD’s Hebrides range involved drones that can fly up to 650km/h. It included a UK first of above-the-horizon tracking, targeting and shooting down such drones.

DRAGONFIRE is the first high-power laser capability entering service from a European nation, representing “one of the most advanced directed energy weapons programs” in NATO.

MBDA, in partnership with QinetiQ and Leonardo UK, is developing DRAGONFIRE to be delivered almost five years faster than originally planned. The laser uses technologies from MBDA and its industrial partners Leonardo UK and QinetiQ, including coherent beam combining, advanced targeting and stabilization, together with image processing to deliver highly accurate effects.

Steve Wadey, Group CEO, QinetiQ, welcomed the government’s latest commitment, which he said will enable the acceleration of DRAGONFIRE production, and stated, “QinetiQ is proud to have played a unique role in developing and testing this critical military capability of the future.”

Across the DRAGONFIRE program, MBDA is working with over 100 UK organisations in its production, including Marshall Land Systems and BAE Systems. This is to deliver a sovereign capability 100% designed in the UK.

According to the Royal Navy, a burst of the high-intensity beam from DragonFire costs no more than £10 – yet can engage targets – drones, missiles, aircraft – at the speed of light by concentrating it on a target. Earlier on, the officials announced plans to install the laser weapon DragonFire on a ship in 2027.

DragonFire laser to be installed on UK’s warship by 2027

Equipment & technology

The weapon provides an “innovative new solution” to address the immediate threat of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and softer targets. It will become an integral effector within a modern layered air defence system, providing short-range air defence against high volume and low-cost asymmetric threats, it was concluded.