After the trials, Defence Minister Luke Pollard announced a £316 million contract awarded to MBDA, the prime contractor for the DragonFire industry partnership, covering production and delivery of the first units. These systems are due to be integrated on Royal Navy ships from 2027 as an extension of existing air defence capabilities.
As an industry partner, QinetiQ received the £67 million award from MBDA, enabling it to continue developing and producing the laser source at the core of the DragonFire system. The contract also draws on QinetiQ’s expertise in the safe testing of this future military capability.
Steve Wadey, Group Chief Executive Officer at QinetiQ, said: “We are proud of the vital role we continue to play in delivering Europe’s leading laser weapon technology to our warfighters.” He added: “This contract is a testament to QinetiQ’s expertise in developing, testing and engineering novel and disruptive technologies at pace, and is a welcome milestone as industry and government work together to accelerate the adoption of laser directed energy weapons.”
The DragonFire contract supports around 120 QinetiQ jobs, mainly in the west and south of England, and more than 100 UK suppliers. Of these suppliers, 50 are small and medium-sized companies.
