The MOD has awarded three contracts worth around £72.5
million to UK industry to produce advanced laser and radio
frequency demonstrators as part of the Novel Weapons
Programme (NWP).
Known collectively as Directed Energy Weapons (DEW), these
next-generation technologies could revolutionise the
battlefield and reduce the risk of collateral damage. The
systems are powered by electricity and operate without
ammunition, significantly reducing operating costs,
increasing platform endurance and providing unprecedented
offensive and defensive flexibility to personnel on the
frontline.
Awarded to consortia headed by Thales and Raytheon UK, the
four-year contracts will create at least 49 new jobs and
sustain 249 jobs.
The first laser will undergo user testing onboard a Royal
Navy Type 23 frigate by detecting, tracking, engaging and
countering Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), whilst the
British Army’s Wolfhound armoured vehicle will host a laser
demonstrator that will investigate capability against UAV
and other air threats. The radio frequency demonstrator
will also be used by the British Army, hosted on a MAN SV
truck to detect and track a variety of air, land and sea
targets. This will create around 30 new jobs at Thales in
Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Minister for Defence Procurement, , said:
“We are investing £6.6 billion in research and development
across Defence over the next four years, reaffirming our
commitment to provide the Armed Forces with truly advanced
capabilities.
“Directed Energy Weapons are a key element of our future
equipment programmes and we intend to become a world-leader
in the research, manufacture and implementation of this
next-generation technology.”
Marking a significant step towards the use of high-powered
laser and radio frequency weapons across Defence, the
investment reaffirms commitments outlined in the Defence
Command Paper ensuring UK Armed Forces are equipped with
the best possible equipment ready to deal with new and
emerging threats.
Further supported by an increase of £24 billion of Defence
spending over the next four years and an additional £6.6
billion of funding for research and development, this a
prime example of how the MOD is using research partnerships
with industry to invest in the technology of tomorrow.
These innovative capabilities will be integrated onto
existing platforms for the Royal Navy and British Army and
will undergo user experimentation from 2023 to 2025. The
experimentation will focus on operation and maintenance of
these new systems and will provide invaluable knowledge,
information and experience to assess whether DEW can be
fully embedded on other Defence assets in the future.
MOD Director Strategic Programmes, Shimon Fhima said:
“These technologies have the potential to revolutionise the
future battlefield for our Armed Forces, enabling the
prosecution of new targets in the land, sea and air domains
and allowing commanders to meet mission objectives in new
ways.
“We must exploit at pace the cutting-edge technologies
developed by the talented scientists and engineers across
the UK to capitalise on its benefit.”
The newly formed Team Hersa brings together the best
acquisition skills from Defence Equipment and Support
(DE&S) and the best in technical expertise from the
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
Team Hersa will manage delivery of the demonstrators and is
responsible for preparing Defence for the introduction of
innovative weapons systems, ensuring the UK Armed Forces
can successfully integrate the weapons on current aircraft,
ships and vehicles.
The new contracts will exploit decades of MOD experience
developing cutting-edge laser and radio frequency weapons
technology and globally recognised strengths in performance
testing and evaluation of these systems.
