The Royal Navy's First Laser Weapon Is Officially Headed to the Fleet

The UK is poised to become the first European country to field a shipboard high-energy laser weapon.

The UK Royal Navy’s 50 kilowatt ‘DragonFire’ laser weapon during recent testing. (UK Ministry of Defense)

After nearly a decade of research and development, the UK Royal Navy’s high-energy laser weapon just took a major step towards operational employment.

The UK Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday that it had officially awarded European defense gia…