Ukraine Becomes The Latest Country To Field A Combat Laser Weapon

Evolution of the long-range strike war

A test firing of the Royal Navy’s DragonFire laser system

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense named their new combat laser system ‘Trident’ (Tryzub) for the national symbol, but it is almost certainly developed from ‘DragonFire,’ the Royal Navy’s new shipboard laser directed energy weapon (LDEW). At least eight other nations — the United States, Russia, Israel, France, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and China — have developed combat laser weapons across the domains of land, sea, air, and space, so it should not be surprising news that Ukraine can build an LDEW. However, Ukraine has the “representative frontline setting” that British developers also say they want for testing and refining DragonFire.¹ It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the story of a technology transfer.

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Set Phasers To Kill