By David Sharp, The Associated Press
BATH, Maine - The Navy is still considering putting an electric-powered gun aboard a Maine-built destroyer, but it would have to be after construction is complete.
Rear Adm. Pete Fanta, the Navy's director of surface warfare, said the construction schedule is too advanced for an electromagnetic railgun to be place aboard the Lyndon B. Johnson while it's being built at Bath Iron Works.
Fanta has floated the idea of putting a gun on the stealthy destroyer, skipping the step of putting a prototype on another vessel this year.
Fanta says the Navy is looking to increase firepower at a lower cost than missiles, and he said it's an engineering race to find the best system. He said it could be a rail gun that fires hypersonic projectiles, a laser or something else.