Laser weapon solutions are emerging as Europe confronts air defence cost imbalance
The DragonFire LDEW is expected to be integrated onto the UK Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers in 2027. (Photo: Crown copyright)
Europe’s air defence debate is increasingly shaped by the blunt economics of the field. While high-value interceptor missiles can effectively shoot down cheap drones, doing so at scale presents cost challenges.
The rapid proliferation of drone warfare, intensified by lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, has put air defence systems under pressure, exposing potential gaps and inefficiencies and increasing European awareness on the need for counter-uncrewed aerial system (CUAS) capabilities.
Within this challenge lies a well-documented imbalance, with cheap, expendable drones creating a favourable cost-to-destructibility ratio for the traditionally ‘weaker’ side. This imbalance raises a fundamental question that European nations are beginning to confront: whether an interceptor-based air defence system can economically scale to sustainably counter the volume of modern air threats.
For Europe, Operation Epic Fury has served as a wake-up call. According to research from
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