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BRITAIN has come a step closer to deploying a futuristic weapon that can shred enemy drones mid-flight.

The Royal Navy says it's developed a new way to power its huge laser gun Dragonfire, which will be loaded onto the UK's most advanced ships.

 Dragonfire is a laser weapon that will shoot down missiles, drones and enemy mortars (artist's impression)
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Dragonfire is a laser weapon that will shoot down missiles, drones and enemy mortars (artist's impression)

Dragonfire could be deployed to protect its naval and land forces from missile threats, drone attacks and artillery bombardment, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Early footage of the deadly tech showed it melting through a mortar round in mere seconds.

Though still a few years from deployment, the MoD announced this week that it's fixed a key issue with Dragonfire, also known as the Laser Directed Energy weapon.

A new design inspired by racing car technology provides the 50kW laser with the enormous amount of power it needs to fire.

 Artist's impression of the Dragonfire system aboard a Royal Navy vessel
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Artist's impression of the Dragonfire system aboard a Royal Navy vessel

"This technology was originally developed by the Williams F1 team," said UK military spokesperson Andrew Tate.

"We saw an attractive option to bolster defence capability through the provision of more robust and futureproof power systems for naval ships."

The Sci-Fi weapon, developed by US and British scientists, promises to revolutionise warfare – but poses a bundle of engineering headaches.

Its huge power demands mean its lithium batteries are prone to overheating, and so risk starting fires aboard Royal Navy ships.

To meet these requirements, US and UK scientists took advantage of tech used in high-speed cars.

Known as FESS, the system "uses innovative high-speed & lightweight flywheels to provide high-power electrical pulses that these future systems require," according to the MoD.

Flywheels are most commonly found in F1 vehicles, and are used to store energy while the clutch is disengaged before pumping it back into the system once it's engaged again after a gear change.

In the same way, Dragonfire's new system could store energy using flywheels before releasing it when fired.

 The tech was shown melting a mortar in 2017
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The tech was shown melting a mortar in 2017

Several European defence firms are working together to build a Dragonfire prototype.

Little is known about the technology or how it works beyond a brief video of its lasers in action.

The clip shows a laser melting a mortar round in a matter of seconds and was released by the MoD in 2017.

They said: "The technology is not yet ready to deploy, with another five to 10 years of research on the cards. It won’t be a thing of sleek, space age beauty, looking more like a fridge on a truck than a thing of science fiction!"

In other military tech news, Russia recently showed off its "ground force" of killer robots in an unsettling video.

Super-strong robots that "make the Terminator look puny" are already on the way.

And here's how the Ancient Greeks predicted killer robots, driverless cars and even Amazon Alexa speakers.

What do you think the Royal Navy will use its super laser for? Let us know in the comments!


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