Laser

Britain to Name Contractor for Testing Laser Weapon

Britain is set to take its first major step toward fielding a laser directed energy weapon next month when the Ministry of Defence is due to select a contractor to build a technology demonstrator to validate the system.

MoD officials could select a winning contractor to build the demonstrator as early as June 3, ‎according to Andy Rhodes, a business development executive at Raytheon UK, told reporters during a briefing at the company's plant here.

‎Raytheon is part of a Babcock-led consortium vying for the deal in a competition which also includes MBDA, Lockheed Martin, Thales UK and Rheinmetall.

The Babcock team also includes Leonardo-Finmeccanica (Selex) supplying the optronics and a Qinetiq developed laser.