We science fiction fans have been reading about energy beam weapons for a long time -- and Star Wars wouldn't have been the same without all those slashing laser bolts. But in real life, energy weapons have always seemed to have too many negatives to be practical.
Well, it appears the practical is a bit nearer. The Air Force just announced the successful test firing of a high-power tactical laser in flight. And, according to the article, the laser hit what the testing folks aimed at.
Of course, the firing took place out over the White Sands Missile Range, where nothing could be in the way. I'll be interested to hear more about tests in the fog, or jungles, or the murky haze of a muggy coastal summer day -- or in a West Texas dust storm.
I think in a way science fiction is driving reality! It takes a wild imagination to come up War of the Worlds in 1898, when the first plane hadn't even taken off.
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