#shapps

[nemfrog]

In the middle of summer, a redheaded woman in a white dress sits on a rustic bench made from birch longs. Behind her, the underside of a giant red parasol shows white geese in flight.

Delineator. July 1910. Magazine cover painting by Frank Shapp.

[transgirltrish]

oh yeah it's almost midnight, forgot to say it's my bday today

[tomorrowusa]

Britain has been developing a laser air defense system called DragonFire. Originally it hadn't been scheduled for deployment until 2027 but the war in Ukraine may offer the UK an opportunity to test its capabilities by seeing how well DragonFire takes out Russian drones fired at Ukraine.

The DragonFire weapon, which is expected to be in service by 2027 at the latest, can hit a target the size of a £1 coin from a kilometre away. Reforms aimed at speeding up procurement mean that DragonFire will now be operational five years earlier than planned. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps travelled down to the Porton Down military research base in Salisbury in an attempt to speed development up even further "in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it". "I've come down to speed up the production of the DragonFire laser system because I think given that there's two big conflicts on, one sea-based, one in Europe, this could have huge ramifications to have a weapon capable particularly of taking down drones," Mr Shapps told journalists. "And so what I want to do is speed up what would usually be a very lengthy development procurement process, possibly up to ten years, based on my conversations this morning, to a much shorter timeframe to get it deployed, potentially on ships, incoming drones, and potentially on land. "Again, incoming drones, but it doesn't take much imagination see how that could be helpful in Ukraine for example." Laser-directed energy weapons can strike at the speed of light, using an intense light beam to cut through their target. They are a lower-cost alternative to using missiles to strike down drones, costing only about £10 per shot.

You can't argue with cheap, fast, and accurate. Ukrainians are quick learners, highly motivated, and amazing innovators. DragonFire and Ukraine would be a great match.

The new procurement model, which comes into effect this week, is aimed at speeding up the process of getting cutting-edge developments in military capability like DragonFire out on to the field. "It's designed to not wait until we have this at 99.9% perfection before it goes into the field, but get it to sort of 70% and then get it out there and then... develop it from there," Mr Shapps said. Asked whether the system might be ready earlier than 2027, he said: "Because I'm here, I've taken the opportunity to arrange additional conversations with colleagues about whether we could speed it up even faster, very much using the integrated procurement model of saying there's a war on - let's say that it didn't have to be 100% perfect in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it, can we do any better - but 2027 is still the date as of this moment. "But of course I'll look to see what we can do to speed up."

Ukraine may be the equivalent of a beta tester for DragonFire. Experience in Ukraine would be used for improvements to the weapons system.

So far, laser defense systems are being developed particularly in connection with naval uses. Here's a vid from late 2021 which outlines the potential uses for and challenges to use of such systems.

It makes me grin to recall that the High Valyrian word for DragonFire is Dracarys.

[pierregaslays]

girl why are you monologuing 😭 you have LOST your fucking seat now sit down and shut up

[blumenbandit]

if i opened some Casual Commissions...

[mrsterlingeverything]

Anyone have tooooo much money i am so broke

[dadsinsuits]

Grant Shapps

[politicaldilfs]

Pennsylvania Governor DILFs

Dick Thornburgh, Bob Casey Sr., Josh Shapiro, Arthur James, George M. Leader, Milton Shapp, Tom Wolf, Ed Rendell, Tom Corbett, Raymond P. Shafer, Mark Schweiker, Tom Ridge, Edward Martin, James H. Duff, John C. Bell Jr., John S. Fine, William Scranton, David L. Lawrence

[garruscoochie]

I have to get like 20 dollars for my cats dewormer so if anyone wants some art, a tarot reading, or a fic done for them, let me know because I'm cheap 🙂‍↕️

[ministerforpeas]

Hunger Games: HomeSec Smashdown

First we had the Chancellors, now it's time for the Home Secretaries to battle to the death to become Britain's top HomeSec!

As you can see some people here have returned yet again from previous seasons! We also have a crazy cat Reform lady as well!

Who will win? Find out!!

Hopefully not Patel or Braverman

[pendragontrash]

Rollercoaster of declarations right now

[sunneehunnee]

[duchessofostergotlands]

Does Shapps get to stay defence secretary, now that he's lost his seat?

Well even if he kept his seat he wouldn't be defence secretary because he's a Conservative so they’re no longer in government.

[thealanwrightblog]

It was always going to be a humiliating defeat for the tories but the result for Labour is staggering.

Still a few seats to be declared as I type but what is certain is a huge majority for Labour after 14 years of misery and corruption.

Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps all lost their seats. Truss, 48 hours ago, was even considering running again as leader of her party after the inevitable tory defeat!! How deluded can you get? Mordaunt too has been positioning herself for months to become the new leader of her party!!

On the downside Farage is now an MP, as is the sister of Rees-Mogg, standing for Reform.

So the lurch to the far right has been avoided. It now remains to be seen if the new lot can do any better.

Update:

I missed one! Michael Fabricant - the syrup-wearer who wears it more like a hat than a wig - has gone!

[youllalwaysfindyourwaybackhome]

I've woken up in the middle of the night and checked the news and would just like to say: ahahahahahaha. Hahaha haha.