How The British DragonFire Could Protect the Gate of Tears

By. Cole Kanter

DOI: 10.57912/28701692

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Since the Gulf Wars, the U.S. has taken on the previous British role of ensuring security in the Persian Gulf. The Suez Canal, which saw about 12% of all global trade, is connected to the Bab-El Mandeb, a small strait bordering Yemen and Somalia, two failed states where the U.S. has been conducting counter-terrorism operations for around two decades. But with the war in Gaza, the increased activity from the Houthi insurgency in Yemen, and the increase in costs, there has been an increased U.S. military presence in the Bab. In 2024, the Houthi attacks on the Bab-Al Mandab began, and the amount of trade through the Suez Canal decreased by over 50%. Most of the shipping has been rerouted around the Horn of Africa, increasing trade costs by approximately 30% per month.

Being the leader in Gulf security, the U.S. has increased its naval presence in the strait to provide stability. However, fighting the Houthis comes at an extraordinary cost. While Houthi drones typically range between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand, U.S. ship-based anti-air systems cost between $2 million and $4 million per missile. Thus, for the U.S.’s campaign in the strait to be cost-effective and to save missiles for larger future threats, they must look towards cheaper alternatives that may not be too far away. Across the Atlantic, the U.K.’s new anti-air laser system presents itself as the future of anti-drone warfare.

Determined to answer the demand for cheap anti-air defense, a U.K.-based company sought out a more cost-effective way to defend warships from drone attacks. DragonFire is an automated surface-to-air, high-energy laser weapon system designed in the U.K. DragonFire uses electricity to create a powerful beam of energy that burns through drones and missiles, protecting the vehicle it is mounted on. In most recent reports, the DragonFire system is capable of destroying targets within a matter of seconds. This means that DragonFire is both as accurate and quick as current air defense systems. 

The Houthis have launched countless air attacks on both civilian and military ships in the Bab in retaliation to the Gaza-Israel war. The Houthis’ cheap, yet destructive drones and missiles are being launched and intercepted by U.S. missiles. Currently, one Houthi drone takes about 3 million dollars to destroy. The problem is that U.S. missiles are extremely costly, thus putting the U.S. in a precarious and expensive situation of constantly spending $3 million to destroy a $1000 drone. 

The British DragonFire laser system has the potential to reduce the cost of anti-air defense massively and in turn, reduce the cost of security in the Bab-Al Mandab, but DragonFire could do it with just $12. Not only will implementing DragonFire cost close to nothing per shot, but it can do it as effectively as the current anti-air defenses. In October, DragonFire was put to the test and achieved a 100% success rate in a live-fire exercise. 

By allowing the U.S. and the Combined Maritime Forces to take down a drone within a matter of seconds at a fraction of the cost, security in the Bab-El Mandeb could come sooner than previously expected. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and Egypt would most likely be in favor of such an outcome, as traffic through the Suez could resume, bringing in revenue for these nations. Additionally, when conflict is low, tourism is high, which both Mohammed Bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, with his Vision 2030 plan, and other GCC nations would benefit from. The use of DragonFire could prove to be beneficial to GCC states, U.S. interests, and the American taxpayer. 

If the U.S. could prove to bring stability into the Red Sea, it would give them leverage and support from the GCC nations. If the U.S. were to secure the Bab-Al Mandab, GCC nations would be more likely to side with the U.S.

There is yet still one major obstacle for DragonFire, competition. Because U.S. military contracts are very competitive, and often only handed out to one seller, any alternative to DragonFire should be considered a threat. This competition comes in the form of a newly developed Japanese laser system. In Japan, the newly announced truck-mounted laser system has been not only tested but deployed. This puts it above DragonFire in development, yet it has its own weaknesses. The Japanese system has a lower energy output than DragonFire and has been unable to prove effective against missiles as compared to the British systems.

The other main competitor has already been implemented on one U.S. warship. The HELIOS system has a laser-based weapon system that has a high-powered laser capable of destroying everything the DragonFire can, yet its main focus is surveillance. Additionally, only a few U.S. ships have the HELIOS system as it takes far too much energy, and its time to kill is far too long. While not specifically disclosed, current missile systems take around 10 seconds to intercept, and the HELIOS system is noted to be slower. 

While other laser systems do exist, they either destroy their targets too slowly or take up too much energy to be implemented on warships. This stresses the need for the U.S. to contract DragonFire systems in order to save money and allow long-term security in the Bab El-Mandeb. Security in the Bab is paramount to global trade prices decreasing and support from GCC states. Every day the U.S. doesn't have DragonFire, millions of dollars are wasted which could have otherwise been funding a cheaper alternative, or other U.S. interests. In order for the U.S. to conduct a long-term security mission, it must invest in cost-effective methods of doing so. 

Because the U.S. and U.K. share much of their military technology and intelligence, a fact which removes a speed bump in order for the U.S. to fund and eventually acquire DragonFire. Due to the lack of boundaries around tech sharing between the U.S. and U.K., -the U.S. should be more inclined to take interest in the British anti-air system. Additionally, since DragonFire is in research and development, if the U.S. funded them, it would drastically decrease development time and push forward the production date, thus accelerating security in the Red Sea and cheaper anti-air systems. 

DragonFire is the future of long-term defense operations, and the longer the U.S. waits to invest, the more money it will burn. DragonFire is the future in anti-air combat, it is simply a matter of time before Houthi attacks are no longer impactful.