Calls Grow for NATO Ally To Send ‘Game-Changing’ Laser Weapon to Ukraine [Video]

Calls for the United Kingdom, a key NATO ally, to test its new laser weapon on the battlefields of Ukraine are growing, as Kyiv struggles to contend with the demands placed on its existing air-defense systems and doubts continue over future Western aid.

The U.K. published de-classified footage of its new laser-directed energy weapon, known as the DragonFire, earlier this week. The British Defense Minister, Grant Shapps, said the brief clip “shows the power of the laser to cut down targets at the speed of light.”

The weapon works by using a concentrated beam to cut through airborne targets, such as drones. One of the main ideas behind laser-directed energy weapons is providing a low-cost way of shooting down incoming targets, taking away the need to expend expensive air-defense missiles.

Throughout more than two years of all-out war, Ukraine has faced Russia’s frequent, destructive onslaughts of kamikaze drone strikes, and Kyiv’s air-defense needs are at the fore of military aid …