US Navy uses Xbox-style controllers to fire anti-drone lasers deployed on ships

It seems that Microsoft has refined the balance between ergonomics and sophisticated control systems with the Xbox controller, as the U.S. Navy has started using Xbox-style controllers for its anti-drone laser systems. According to Interesting Engineering, Xbox-style controllers deliver targeting precision and rapid user inputs, making them ideal for operating the weapons platform. Aside from that, many sailors are already quite familiar with the basic layout of these handheld controllers, making it easier for them to get used to the control method during training.

We don’t have further details about the system, like whether the operators use a wired or wireless controller and whether the Navy uses an off-the-shelf commercial system or has one specially made by a contractor. Nevertheless, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a controller being used for such a critical system. In fact, the ill-fated Titan submersible used a cheap Logitech F710 game controller as its sole control interface (although the main suspected reason for the tragedy is the design and construction of the vessel).

This weapon that uses an Xbox-style controller isn’t just an experimental system, too. The U.S. Navy has now started deploying them on warships and has reportedly used them against drones and other threats in the Strait of Hormuz. Lasers have previously been used to neutralize drones from land-based systems — for example, the U.S. military used them to disable Mexican cartel drones in late August, while Ukraine has been experimenting with the AI-guided lasers to destroy Shahed suicide drones in mid-2026. Still, this appears to be one of the first instances that an anti-drone laser has been deployed in an active conflict area months after a similar system has been tested on the USS George H.W. Bush supercarrier. The Royal Navy is also installing a similar system on its destroyers, with the UK expecting them to be operational by next year.

Lasers are ideal for counter-drone operations as they are cheaper to operate compared to traditional missiles and close-in weapons systems (CIWS). It’s estimated that a single laser engagement costs around $13 in electricity, compared to the price tag of a typical anti-aircraft missile that could cost anywhere between thousands and millions of dollars. They can also be more cost-effective compared to machine guns and cannons since they don’t rely on conventional ammunition — as long as a vessel has enough electrical power, whether from the massive turbine engines aboard destroyers or the nuclear reactors on U.S. supercarriers, and the system remains serviceable, laser weapons can keep on defending the ship from drones long after it has run out of missiles and ammo.

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