U.S. Military testing planes with a ‘Star Wars’-style laser cannon

Star Wars

Prepare yourself for a future filled with real-life pew pew! The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working with Lockheed Martin to test “a new beam control turret… to give 360-degree coverage for high-energy laser weapons operating on military aircraft.”

In other words, it stuck a primitive (by rebel standards) “Star Wars”-style laser cannon on a fighter jet and flew it over Michigan eight times.

“These initial flight tests validate the performance of our ABC turret design,” Lockheed’s Doug Graham said. in a release.

That ABC stands for Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control, which is designed to allow high-energy lasers to fire on enemy aircraft and missiles from a full 360 degrees — above, below, and behind the aircraft.

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