Battlefield Lasers: Tech Ready, Cash Poor?

Laser weapons are just about ready to go, technically.

And the American armed forces have a pretty obvious need for the real-life ray guns: The blasters could be the best bet yet, for knocking mortars, rockets, and artillery out of the sky.

But despite that, a leading defense think tank says, "it is unclear whether the U.S. military will field such systems within a decade... [A] significant number of perceptual, fiscal, operational and institutional obstacles would have to be addressed before fielding is likely to take place."

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