 A deadly laser weapon which can blow up drones and hypersonic nuclear missiles at the speed of light has been revealed to the public in newly declassified footage. The video shows Britain achieving its first high-power firing of the Dragonfire laser weapon, as it successfully destroyed a drone in the sky using the system's death ray, the black and white snippet, published by the British Defence Ministry, shows the power of the laser to cut down targets at the speed of light, said UK Defence Secretary Grant Shaps. The UK has spent years developing the Dragonfire, which is a laser-directed energy weapon. A concentrated beam cuts through the airborne target. One of the main ideas behind laser-directed energy weapons are to provide a low-cost way of shooting down incoming targets like drones, taking away the need to use up expensive air defense missiles to take out threats such as cheap drones. In the more than two years of full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia has frequently used budget drones to target Ukraine. Australian officials have said Moscow intends to use up key of scarce supply of costly air defense missiles and overwhelm its defenses. The British Defence Ministry said back in mid-January that it had carried out the first high-power firing of the laser weapon against aerial targets. The range of the Dragonfire is classified, the UK government said, but the weapon can engage with any visible target, London added. China launched five days of joint military exercises with Russia and Iran in the Indian Ocean, the Chinese Defence Ministry said, against the backdrop of rising armed conflict in the Red Sea, according to South China Morning Post, the ministry said the navies of China, Iran and Russia would hold the maritime security belt. 2024 joint exercise from March 11 to 15 in the waters near the Gulf of Oman in the Indian Ocean, the maritime drills come as tensions are high in the region due to the war. In Gaza and ongoing attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, some US officials have previously expressed concern over growing military ties between the three countries. Earlier, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said that China, Russia and Iran would be a problem for many years to come for Washington. It said China sent the 45th Escort Task Force, consisting of the guided missile destroyer Yoramki, the guided missile frigate Leni and the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu, to the exercise, aiming to jointly maintain regional maritime security, according to the information, representatives from the navies of Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Oman, India and South Africa would act as observers. IEL 76 military transport plane crashed in Ivanova region of Russia. The Russian press reported on this. According to the information, the plane tried to land at the Severny airfield, but before reaching there, it crashed in the forest lane. The information was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of Russia, all 15 people on the plane died during the accident. Eight of them were crew members, seven were passengers. Rescuers are working in the area. According to preliminary information, the cause of the accident was a fire in one of the engines. And the main thing is that they have a trap, they pass through here. The wind is good. No, no, it's burning, it's burning again. Some kind of smoke. The evening news, please look. The plane crashed into the water, it's dangerous.