The United States military is at the forefront of what has been a decades-long effort to develop directed energy capabilities. It has not been cheap. The Air Force spent about $4.3 billion pursuing airborne lasers that could destroy ballistic missiles between 1994 and 2007, according to the Congressional Research Service. In particular, the Air Force focused primarily on chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) systems, which could be mounted in the aft section of a modified Boeing 747 aircraft.

In 2009, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates killed the Air Force's airborne laser program as part of an effort to reduce spending and reform the military's acquisition process. Unlike the chemically-powered lasers pursued by the Air Force, the U.S. Navy has focused on electrically powered lasers. The latter have proven to be far more successful than the former. In December, the Navy completed the first successful deployment of an electrically-powered laser weapon system aboard the U.S.S. Ponce in the Persian Gulf.

The advantages of energy weapons are difficult to dispute.

"Energy weapons don't require conventional ammunition," said Admiral Sir George Zambellas. "With a cost-per-shot potentially measured in pence rather than pounds, they offer a route to address the spiraling costs of missile development and production, as well as reducing supply chain demands."

Now, Britain wants to leap frog the U.S. Navy by solving one of the primary constraints on directed energy weapons: inadequate power supplies.

Earlier this year, Britain's Defense Science and Technology Laboratory began investigating electric flywheel technology as a possible power source for high-energy weapons.

For more:
- see this video

© 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex, LLC. All rights reserved.