QinetiQ awarded contract for further work on lasers, future systems and energy weapons
DragonFire laser has been developed under WSRF. (Photo: Leonardo)
Notable projects under the Weapons Sector Research Framework (WSRF) contract include the British Army determining the impact of a vehicle-mounted laser weapon on drones and testing a vehicle-mounted Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW).
The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has awarded QinetiQ a £160 million (US$214 million) to continue work with commercial partners to speed up the development of next generation weapons.
It is an extension of the five-year £300 million WSRF contract awarded in July 2020. It has already seen the development of RFDEW counter-uncrewed aerial system (C-UAS) in partnership with Thales and DragonFire C-UAS and air defence laser which is being developed in cooperation between MBDA and Leonardo UK.
Under the WSRF framework extension, QinetiQ will work with industry partners MBDA and Thales, to provide Dstl and the Ministry
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