Photo via imdb.com/Star Wars
Photo via imdb.com/Star Wars

Ray guns. Blasters. Sharks with laser beams attached to their heads.

Advanced weaponry such as this as long been integrated into sci-fi and comedy, but now Next.gov reports that the U.S. Army really is, in fact, getting closer to integrating “handheld energy blasters” into its arsenal.

“The U.S Army is currently testing electricity guns for possible use against electronics on the battlefield,” Next.gov states. “They don’t look like props from the popular cartoon show but, rather like regular standard-issue M4 rifles with a pair of antennas that shoot out from the barrel and then spread, giving the front end of the gun a musket-like shape.”

Photo via Next.gov/Burke Pulser from Burke's slide presentation
Photo via Next.gov/Burke Pulser from Burke’s slide presentation

Electronics engineer James Burke, who works with the Army’s Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, presented the potential ray guns at a National Defense Industry Association event earlier this week. He calls his gun the “Burke Pulser.” See a slide from his presentation explaining the gun to the right.

As Next.gov notes, integrating energy into guns isn’t just the stuff of sci-fi fantasy. A Seattle man, Rob Flickenger, already “cast a Nerf gun in aluminum and rigged it to shoot 20,000 volts of electricity a short distance.” (Please don’t try this at home).

The handheld ray gun is seen as a significant development, as Burke said in the presentation that most energy-powered weapons, including lasers, have been large, requiring vehicles to carry them and a significant power system.

The Burke Pulser is also not for shooting people. Instead, the gun is intended for “use against electronics, potentially giving dismounted soldiers an edge against the ever-wider range electronic and cyber threats that they might face on patrol: Bluetooth-enabled improvised explosive devices, consumer drones modified to be more deadly, and the like,” Next.gov reports.

Burke said the guns would cost about $1,000 each to mass produce, and that tests were “very promising.”

In the meantime, you can watch Flickenger’s video below, behind the making of his “Tesla gun”:

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