Summary and Key Points: Lasers, often depicted as the ultimate defense in science fiction, struggle to meet the real-world challenges posed by modern hypersonic missiles. These missiles, capable of exceeding Mach 5 and changing course unpredictably, outpace current laser technology, which is limited by power output, line-of-sight constraints, and atmospheric interference.

-Despite advancements, such as the U.S. Navy’s HELIOS system and the Army’s IFPC-HEL, today's lasers can't yet reliably stop hypersonic threats.

-While lasers offer potential for close-range defense, kinetic options remain the most effective solution against hypersonic missiles, highlighting the significant gap between science fiction and battlefield reality.

Lasers may be the cure for whatever ails you in science fiction, but if America is looking for a real solution to the myriad problems posed by modern hypersonic weapons, lasers – or directed energy weapons – won’t be able to provide the magic bullet that we’re looking for.

Modern hypersonic missiles, which combine flying at speeds in excess of Mach 5 with the ability to change course unpredictably, pose a unique challenge for even today’s most advanced integrated air defense systems. While the air defense enterprise is an incredibly complex one, the job itself is somewhat simple: Air defense systems identify and track inbound weapons using sensors, like radar, and then use computers to calculate the remainder of the weapon’s inbound flight path. With its course determined, air defense systems, like America’s MIM-104 Patriot, then launch a missile of their own, known as an interceptor, to fly toward a point further along the inbound weapon’s flight path to intercept it.

It’s the same basic principle as a quarterback leading a receiver: you don’t throw the ball to where the receiver is, but rather, to where the receiver will be by the time the ball gets there.

This approach to missile defense has proven very effective against ballistic missiles, which do travel at hypersonic speeds, but along a fairly predictable ballistic flight path. Cruise missiles pose a different type of risk, as they fly at much lower altitudes under power, more........

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