Laser weapons are the newest member of an already impressive U.S. Arsenal. The development of laser weapons has been going on for a number of years and is believed to change the way wars are fought.
One of the weapons is an airborne laser that will be tested near the end of this year. The laser will be in jumbo sized jet (747) and will be tested to see if it will do what they hope, which is to shoot down enemy missiles on the other side of the world. The actual detonation of a missile will happen later in 2008. The power the the airborne laser weapon punches is a billion times more powerful than the laser pointers that are common today.

Along with this super sized laser are smaller weapons that are being developed. The ABL is a single shot weapon or multiple fire weapon. It heats up the inside of an enemy missile which disables it. This takes more time but is very effective.

The Zeus is another weapon that is a tactical laser which could be used on helicopters to clear minefields by heating them up and detonating them.

These are just a few of the laser weapons in development and nearing the testing phase. Doug Beason, Associate Director for Threat Reduction at the Los Alamos National Lab, explains during an interview the  in-depth going-ons of this new laser technology in the military.