QinetiQ Invests US$27 mn in HELENA Laser Technology

Our Bureau - : Jul 21, 2026 - : 11:56 am

QinetiQ has unveiled its new HELENA High Energy Laser Source products at the Farnborough International Airshow while announcing a £20 million (US$27 million) investment to expand the development and production of laser-directed energy weapon (LDEW) technology in the UK.

The investment is aimed at increasing manufacturing capacity and supporting future programmes for the UK and allied defence markets.

HELENA uses coherent beam combination (CBC) technology to generate high-energy laser sources, the core component of laser-directed energy weapons designed to defeat drones and other emerging aerial threats. The company said the new product line forms part of its broader effort to strengthen sovereign UK capabilities in directed energy systems as demand for low-cost counter-drone solutions continues to grow.

Production Expansion

The investment will increase QinetiQ's development and production capability at its Farnborough and Malvern facilities, while expanding its portfolio of laser products for domestic and export customers. The company's existing directed energy activities already support around 150 jobs.

Laser-directed energy weapons are attracting growing interest because they offer a low cost per engagement compared with conventional missiles and can engage multiple targets without carrying a finite number of interceptors. They are increasingly being viewed as an additional layer of air defence against low-cost drones, particularly as armed forces seek more economical ways of countering large numbers of unmanned aerial systems.

Steve Wadey, Group Chief Executive of QinetiQ, said directed energy weapons were moving beyond research programmes and towards operational deployment. "Directed Energy Weapons are quickly moving from development to deployment to change the game in battlefield economics against the drone threat, and QinetiQ has been at the forefront of this technology for two decades," he said.

DragonFire Link

QinetiQ's latest investment also supports its role in the UK's DragonFire laser weapon programme, where it works alongside MBDA and Leonardo. DragonFire is expected to enter service with the Royal Navy from 2027 and is one of the UK's flagship directed energy weapon projects.

The launch of HELENA reflects the growing momentum behind laser weapons as militaries respond to the widespread use of drones on today's battlefields. Rather than replacing conventional air defence systems, laser weapons are expected to complement existing missile-based capabilities by providing a rapid and comparatively low-cost means of engaging smaller aerial threats.

As more countries invest in layered air defence architectures, technologies such as HELENA are likely to become an increasingly important part of future battlefield protection.

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