"Lasers of 1 MW could potentially neutralize ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons," states that report.

A laser uses electricity to generate photons, or light particles. The photons pass through a gain medium, a material that creates a cascade of additional photons, which rapidly increases the number of photons. All these photons are then focused into a narrow beam by a beam director.

Though the technology is yet to mature, the United States has begun to deploy early laser weapons on several of its naval destroyers, as well as testing ground- and air-based versions.

The Army has officially deployed a pair of high-energy lasers overseas to blast incoming enemy drones out of the sky, the service recently confirmed, marking a major milestone for the U.S. military's ongoing development of futuristic directed-energy weapons.