Getting closer. They're making big breakthroughs with free-electron lasers, and the article also describes some other interesting applications for chemistry.

Nice article, but I'm not so sure what the project manager meant by "Think USS Cole," since a naval laser isn't about to prevent a US ship from being damaged by ship-based bomb in port unless you start incinerating every ship that gets too close to ours. That said, a naval laser would have great potential to prevent another "USS Stark" incident, making this a great technological innovation.

The luddites don't much like them (too bad): http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/03056841.asp

You know, I actually wish Gagnon's delusions were a bit closer to reality. TransOrbital Corporation a space equivalent of British East India Company? If only US government were that farsighted!

While the information in the Science Blog post appears to be correct, I cannot find that article, or anything of note, at ONR's site. For confirmation, I refered to this from the Jefferson National Laboratory.

Of course, the luddites hate these weapons. They're absolutely horrified that in the future, the US might use lasers in a Mogadishu-like crowd control situation and leave some civilians temporarily blind rather than, well, permanently dead.