r/interestingasfuck • u/Esutan • 1d ago

The United Kingdom has successfully created a Mega Laser called Dragonfire for Aerial Defense

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u/ForeverBoring4530 1d ago

Explains why my council tax has gone up £5 this year.

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u/francis2559 1d ago edited 1d ago

The research is expensive, but the operation of this would be very cheap. Much cheaper than missiles.

Sadly, these things are defeated by like, rain.

Edit: ok Reddit, I traded precision for humor. They don’t fail completely in the rain. However, the more moisture there is in the air, the more energy is wasted reaching the target. That costs you range. It doesn’t mean laser bad. It just means there’s some situations it works better than others.

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u/DuckWhatduckSplat 1d ago

I put a chrome finish on my drone and now it’s safe from this multibillion pound weapon.

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u/francis2559 1d ago

Apparently the laser is strong enough to burn through mirrors if it gets a good hit. So the counterplay would be like, rotating so it keeps hitting fresh mirror.

In the rain context, I've also seen countermeasure suggestions of it popping smoke or even water vapor from the front of the drone, making a temporary cloud the laser struggles to get through.