By by Terrence O'Brien | Switched | Sept. 5, 2008

Now that we've got that out of the way, word is that the U.S. military will finally get weapons grade lasers by the end of 2008. No joke, the holy grail of a laser-based weaponry is right around the corner, according to Northrop Grumman, a military contractor. Grumman recently tested an electronic laser system that combines small silicon-based lasers into one more powerful beam, much like the Death Star. 100 kilowatts (kW) is generally considered the threshold for a useful weapons grade laser, and the most recent test only hit 30 kW. Since the weapon is built simply by chaining smaller lasers together,it will be able to quickly scale up its power by the end of the year, according to Grumman.

These new electric lasers have replaced traditional chemical lasers, which are bulky and require noxious gases to generate their high-powered beams. The size and danger of these systems has rendered them impractical for most military situations.

Grumman isn't alone, though. The military also expects to see a laser truck from Boeing and a laser mortar from Raytheon soon. Plus, it just test-fired its aerial Advanced Tactical Laser for the first time. It's only a matter of time before we'll all have ray guns and plasma rifles. [From: Wired]