Lockheed to Air Force: We'll Put a Laser on a Fighter Jet By 2021

The U.S. Air Force wants to put laser guns on fighter jets.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) builds fighter jets -- including one, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, that boasts an engine big enough to power the biggest laser cannons the Pentagon has yet developed.

If this sounds like a match made in heaven to you...well, Lockheed Martin thinks so, too. That's why when the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) announced it was looking for a defense contractor to build it a high-powered fiber laser, powerful and accurate enough to shoot down hostile missiles in flight but small enough to mount on a fighter jet, Lockheed Martin was first in line to volunteer its services.

Source: Fool.com