Swarms of cheap drones and mass missile barrages are rewriting the rules of air defense. When attacks come in the hundreds, the decisive variable is no longer just interceptor performance, but the economics of sustaining fire night after night. This is where high energy lasers are moving from promise to procurement. A laser does not run out of missiles. It runs on power, cooling, and line of sight.

Laser air defense is not a silver bullet, and it is not a distant concept anymore. Several systems are already moving into operational service, while others are in late stage trials on land vehicles and warships. The technology is also maturing fast: power levels are climbing, beam control and tracking are improving, and integration into existing air defense networks is becoming standard. At the same time, the constraints are real. Weather, dwell time, target hardening, and the challenge of defending against complex, mixed salvos mean lasers will complement interceptors rather than replace them.

This article maps what is actually happening. It explains the main laser technologies, how they reached today’s state, where the operational edge is emerging, and what to watch next. For political and business decision makers, the takeaway is simple: directed energy is changing the cost exchange of air defense and with it the procurement priorities, industrial partnerships, and strategic assumptions that will shape the next decade.

America’s $150B defense surge isn’t just “more spending.” It’s a blueprint for a different kind of force: one built for contested logistics, missile-dense theatres, and the industrial reality that wars are won as much in shipyards and factories as they are at sea or in the air. This analysis breaks down what the money actually buys—from munitions throughput and maritime capacity to airbase resilience and deterrence modernization—and why the real story is the shift from platforms to production depth.