---
title: "Rolls-Royce Is Selling a Power System for Lethal Laser Weapons"
description: "Rolls-Royce unveiled a new hybrid power source for laser weapons. A combo of a battery and a helicopter engine, the system could fire a laser indefinitely."
date: "2019-05-13"
modified: "2019-05-21"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/rolls-royce-laser-weapons"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "laser weapons"
  - "Rolls-Royce"
  - "the digest"
---

# Rolls-Royce Is Selling a Power System for Lethal Laser Weapons

![Rolls-Royce unveiled a new hybrid power source for laser weapons. A combo of a battery and a helicopter engine, the system could fire a laser indefinitely.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/rolls-royce-laser-weapons.png>)
*\<em\>Image: U.S. Navy\</em\>*

## Luxury Lasers

Rolls-Royce is making a hard pivot to the death ray industry, [according to *Defense News*](<https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/05/10/rolls-royce-unveils-hybrid-power-system-for-laser-weapons/>): The company just unveiled a new hybrid power source intended to continuously power 100-kilowatt laser weapons.

The power system combines a battery — that could instantly fire the laser without needing to charge up — with a helicopter engine that can take over the battery once it revs up, recharging it in the process. The system could be part of a shift in the face of warfare from bullets and missiles to beams of lethal energy.

## Flexible Engineering

The power source can be used in one of two ways — it can be built to fit on a jet, helicopter, [or other vehicle](<https://futurism.com/military-mounting-laser-weapons-tanks>). Or, if the military is less concerned about space, a bulkier version of the hybrid power source could fire a laser for a longer period of time.

"Our idea here is we want to package it in a size that can fit along with the laser system onto a vehicle, a type of a truck or eventually a ship or even eventually airborne," Mark Wilson, COO of Rolls-Royce's advanced tech research division, told *Defense News*. "So the focus of our research is on developing that kind of capability that can go on an actual platform."

*Editor's note 5/21: This article originally misidentified Rolls-Royce's industry.*

**READ MORE:** [Rolls-Royce unveils hybrid power system for laser weapons](<https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/05/10/rolls-royce-unveils-hybrid-power-system-for-laser-weapons/>) \[*Defense News*\]

**More on laser weapons:** *[The UK’s New “Dragonfire” Laser Weapon Is Weirdly Steampunk](<https://futurism.com/uk-laser-weapon-dragonfire-energy-flywheel>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)