Why the Pentagon loves Xbox controllers for laser weapons

One of the most distinctive features of the U.S. military’s high-energy laser weapon of choice isn’t the system itself—it’s how operators control it. In a 60 Minutes segment on military laser weapons that aired on March 15, CBS News correspondent Lesley Stahl traveled to Albuquerque for an up-close look at defense contractor AV’s 20-kilowatt LOCUST Laser Weapons System, which has been watching over U.S. service members abroad (and triggering occasional airspace shutdowns near the U.S.-Mexico border at home) in recent years. With Iranian Shahed now pummeling the Middle East and the U.S. Defense Department racing to field inexpensive countermeasures to address the ever-expanding threat of low-cost weaponized drones, Stahl explores the advantages (and limits) of laser weapons and how they fit into the evolution of modern warfare. But my favorite part of the 60 Minutes segment is when Stahl takes a LOCUST for a spin and discovers that the futuristic laser weapon is operated with a tried-an