September 6, 2020
The Air Force's 6th-Generation Stealth Fighter Will Have Laser Weapons
If the Pentagon's budget can support it.
by David Axe
Here's What You Need To Remember: Lockheed could succeed in shrinking down its HELIOS laser in order to fit a future fighter plane before any new plane is ready to carry it. Alternatively, the company could offer the laser as an upgrade for existing fighters. But directed-energy weapons require more electrical power than today’s fighters easily can generate.
U.S. arms-maker Lockheed Martin is developing a laser that could be small enough to arm a future, “sixth-generation†fighter plane, company officials told reporters on May 1, 2019.
But it’s not clear when the Pentagon might develop a new fighter. The laser could be ready before the plane is.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/air-forces-6th-generation-stealth-fighter-will-have-laser-weapons-168442
