Ukraine has developed a cutting-edge laser weapon that is ready to shoot down Russian jets, a military commander has revealed.
The weapon is known as Tryzub (Trident), and is thought to have been modelled on a UK prototype after designs were shared with Kyiv earlier this year.
Col Vadym Sukharevskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said the advanced laser system is capable of downing aircraft at distances of more than 2km.
“It really works; it really exists,” he said at a defence industry conference, in Ukraine’s first official acknowledgement of the existence of Tryzub.
The commander noted Ukraine was only the fifth country to possess a high-power laser weapon, which uses an intense light beam to cut through its target.
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Trident, which is also a symbol featured on Ukraine’s coat of arms, was “already” ready to shoot down Russian jets, Col Sukharevskyi claimed, adding that efforts were under way to improve its capabilities.
He did not elaborate further on its specifics, and The Telegraph cannot independently verify his claims.
Grant Shapps, the then defence secretary, said in April that the UK’s DragonFire laser, which is due to be deployed in 2027, could be used in Ukraine to counter Russian drones and missiles.
He said the laser guns, also known as directed energy weapons, could have “huge ramifications” for the conflict, adding that the British military was rushing to get it into service.
The DragonFire, built by British scientists, is a revolutionary £10-a-shot laser said to have enough precision to hit a £1 coin over a kilometre away.
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Originally slated for production in 2033, the electrically powered system is now scheduled to be deployed on Royal Navy warships six years earlier than expected.
“It didn’t have to be 100 per cent perfect in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it,” Mr Shapps said at the time.
The UK Ministry of Defence has been asked for comment.
Trident could soon help defend Ukraine’s skies. Russian hypersonic missiles, which can travel as fast as 3,800mph, are difficult to target with physical weaponry but could be more easily shot down with a laser beam.
It could also provide an inexpensive means to counter Russia’s constant drone attacks.
“The big deal with lasers is that they provide a way of downing cheap weapons such as drones without using something costing vastly more,” Martin J Dougherty, a weapons expert and author of Aircraft, Tanks and Artillery of the Ukraine War, told The Telegraph.
Mr Dougherty added that the war in Ukraine had helped usher in a new dawn of arms development, which he described as “cheap rubbish” – weapons designed to “overwhelm the expensive defence systems everyone has in place”.
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“Low-capability weapons are being deployed in huge numbers. Lasering them seems to be a promisingly low-cost counter once the lasers themselves are in place,” he said.
Western militaries have been increasingly intrigued by laser guns as a cheap alternative to using expensive drones and missiles to shoot down and hit targets.
Speaking at the European Defence Industry: Prospects for Cooperation with the Ukrainian Defence Industry event in Kyiv, Col. Sukharevskyi also discussed the development of so-called “queen drones”, which lead a flock of FPV (first-person view) attack drones.
These unmanned aerial vehicles, he said, are capable of flying more than 70km into enemy territory to hit deep targets. He described them as a “breakthrough” in Ukrainian drone technology.
The Unmanned Systems Forces was established less than six months ago in response to Ukraine ramping up its domestic drone production. It includes combat and research units operating across air, land, and sea.
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