Laser rifles need a portable power source. Given that a 25 lb. backpack two-stroke leaf blower engine generates 4 HP, assume the military can put together a power pack. It might either be a 50 lb., 10 HP generator backpack that includes a gallon fuel tank, or a 50 lb. Lithium-Ion battery generating the same power.
Once, I actually had my hands on a German WWII-era infrared targeting… wand? Scope? … It was a huge shoulder-mounted flashlight with optics that were used to illuminate aircraft using IR. VERY sophisticated for the time. According to the declassified doc that came with it, the power requirements were insane. Basically it had to be plugged into a mobile generator - probably on a truck or half-track - or the grid, to use it.
So it’s not out of the question. G.I. Joe in an alternate WWII timeline could have had laser sights on machine guns, provided they were tethered to a “mobile” power supply like that.
Once, I actually had my hands on a German WWII-era infrared targeting… wand? Scope? … It was a huge shoulder-mounted flashlight with optics that were used to illuminate aircraft using IR. VERY sophisticated for the time. According to the declassified doc that came with it, the power requirements were insane. Basically it had to be plugged into a mobile generator - probably on a truck or half-track - or the grid, to use it.
So it’s not out of the question. G.I. Joe in an alternate WWII timeline could have had laser sights on machine guns, provided they were tethered to a “mobile” power supply like that.
Less “electric rifle,” more “optical flamethrower.”