The US Military’s Laser Weapon Wake-Up Call

The rise of military laser weapons seemed all but inevitable. Now, the Pentagon’s dream appears in trouble.

The US Navy’s amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland successfully disables an airborne drone target with a Solid State Laser - Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) MK 2 MOD 0 on May 16, 2020. (US Navy)

The dream of arming the US military with high-energy laser weapons once seemed like a technological inevitability. Decades o…