The Pentagon believes the time has come to revisit the potential for very-high-flying lasers to shoot down long-range ballistic missiles early in flight, and is programming funding in fiscal year 2026 to explore putting directed-energy technology -- in the “upper hundreds” of kilowatts -- above the clouds to explore a next-generation airborne laser. The Missile Defense Agency’s fiscal year 2025 budget request forecasts $11 million in FY-26 for a new directed-energy project, six years after the agency was forced to...
