The US Military Officially Enters the Laser Wars

The Pentagon notched its first known “kill” with a high-energy laser weapon on an adversary drone at the US-Mexico border.

US Army soldiers use the Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser system to engage and defeat a hostile drone on August 25, 2026. (US Army photo)

On July 7, 1960, American physicist Theodore Maiman introduced the “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation,” or “laser,” to the American public for the first time at a press conference in New York …