US Navy turns to Xbox-style controllers for shipboard anti-drone lasers

The approach could make new defensive lasers easier for sailors to learn and cheaper to use than missile intercepts.

The U.S. Navy is now using Xbox-style controllers to operate shipboard anti-drone laser systems, and the move matters because it points to a lower-friction way to train operators for a new class of defensive weapons. The systems are already being deployed on warships and have reportedly been used against drones and other threats in the Strait of Hormuz. The appeal is partly practical: sailors are already familiar with the controller layout, and lasers can be far cheaper to fire than missiles, with one engagement estimated at about $13 in electricity. The report says similar laser defenses have been tested before on the USS George H.W. Bush, and the Royal Navy is also fitting comparable systems to its destroyers, with operational use expected next year.