BAE Putting Lasers on Mk 38 Naval Gun

So, BAE Systems and Boeing have teamed up to add lethal lasers to the already tricked out Mk 38 chain gun system used for close-in defense on U.S. Navy ships.

In March, BAE — maker of the MK 38 system (shown above) — recieved a contract to build a demo laser system to show that such a weapon could work. Now, they’ve teamed with Boeing to produce that gun/laser demo weapon.

BAE’s Mk 38 25 mm chain gun system was originally designed to be manually aimed and fired. However, the latest version of the system, dubbed the Mk 38 Mod 2, is completely remote-controlled using an electro-optitical/infrared sensor ball and laser range finder to find and track targets. Add a laser to this system and it could be even deadlier when engaging fast moving targets such as UAVs or speedboats.

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http://defensetech.org/2011/07/25/bae-putting-lasers-on-mk-38-naval-gun