Editor’s note: Explore the interactive version of this image on Google Maps.
As of October 2025, 18 countries1 are publicly known to possess high-energy laser weapons.
The United States and China are currently the most advanced in terms of both the quality and quantity of systems under development and operationally deployed. Russia, Israel, and the United Kingdom are not far behind, with Israel in particular standing out as the first country to officially use a mature laser weapon system in combat.
But the directed energy ecosystem is diversifying rapidly. Turkey has cultivated its own indigenous industry, Chinese-made systems have already proliferated to Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Belarus; and Australia recently inked the world’s first publicly confirmed export contract for a 100 kilowatt system with an unnamed European NATO member state.2 The laser club is growing larger by the week.
To capture this ongoing transformation, Laser Wars has built this useful (if simple) map to track the global high-energy laser arsenal as it continues to expand over the coming years. It’s a snapshot of a fast-moving field: new deployments, exports, and demonstrators emerge almost monthly, and the geography of laser weapons is shifting just as quickly as the technology itself.
Because Substack does not allow interactive embeds, check out Google Maps for the full experience and explore the data in table form below:
For more on the ever-expanding high-energy laser weapon ecosystem, consider revisiting these past Laser Wars stories:
The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Futures 2060 report published in July 2021 claimed that 31 countries are actively developing directed energy weapons — which include high-energy lasers, high-powered microwaves, and other exotic systems — for counter-drone defense.