Boeing and BAE team up to Build Machine Gun Lasers for the Navy

The U.S. Navy has contracted with BAE Systems and, as a subcontractor, Boeing, to develop an integrated weapons system that combines both lasers and machine guns. A solid state laser will be combined with the Mk 38 Mod 2 Machine Gun to provide several levels of integration. Ideally, the system can be used as a laser weapon directly against targets that require high precision, or the laser can be used to aim the machine gun where more power is needed.

Of course, that sounds cool – especially to my inner 12 year old. But Spencer Ackerman notes that there are still some issues to be worked out.

Right now, the prototype that BAE and Boeing jointly developed — thanks to a $2.8 million Navy contract awarded in March — tops out at a laser blast of 10 kilowatts. That’s an order of magnitude below what’s considered militarily effective. And there are many other hurdles for the system to overcome: It’s a solid-state fiber laser, meaning light has to focus through a crystal medium to create a deadly beam, and all the crud in sea air can diminish the potency of those kinds of lasers.

Moreover, it’ll be interesting to see if the fiscal situation in Washington keeps this type of speculative research going, or if the funding for this weapons system will disappear. Still, it’s a clever concept, and it’ll be interesting to see if weapons systems like this get adopted on land.