"There is a growing realization on Capitol Hill and the Department of Defense that it’s time to transition these technologies," said Mark Gunzinger, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, and former deputy assistant secretary of defense under President George W. Bush. "There are some technological challenges, but it's apparent to us that it's a case of inadequate funding. We do believe there are directed energy technologies that are ready to transform now."
All four branches of the military have already built prototype laser weapons that have worked during tests. But the next step is building and testing operational ones, according to Gunzinger.
"Lasers have been around since the 1960s, and there have been decades and hundreds of millions of dollars invested into laser technology," said Gunzigner, who authored a comprehensive 2012 report on directed energy weapons for CSBA