[Jack Simth]

Originally posted by oleg:
Unfortunately, it will not. It will spring a new race to make a hardy missile, faster missile or something else. For exanple, Russia has a working design of fast-rotating modification of Tupol ICBM. The idea is to spread and decipate the heat over larger area - laser is not exactly a bullet after all.

Actually, it very well might make ICBM's obsolete - for one, it is harder to defend against a weapon than it is to make a Version that will penatrate the new defense; all it would take to knock out a spinning / faster/ more heavily armored ICBM is a higher powered laser / more lasers focused on the same point / spin tracking - all of which, once lasers are refined enough for "practical" military use, are simpler than speeding up/armoring/spinning the ICBM (armoring requires more engines & fuel (due to weight increase); speeding up the missle requires the same; spinning faster requires progressivly more computation intensive navigational components, while more focused on the same point simply requires more installations with a bit of co-ordination and spin tracking merely requires a measure of the spin and small degree of aim adjustmen; higher powered lasers might take some serious research). Sure, it's still the eternal weapon/armor dance (Make armor that will stop this weapon; okay, now make a weapon that will penetrate this armor; okay, now make armor that will....) - but the weapon side has always had the advantage, historically. In this case, it's fortunate that the ICBM is on the armor side.

However, even if ICBMs aren't fully obsoleted, it could provide an effective defense against older ICBMs in the hands of less technologically advanced Groups (most extremists fit that Category, if they have ICBMs at all), as well as providing a defensive measure with a reasonable expectation of success that nations can throw money at as an alternative to offensive nuclear capability.

Originally posted by oleg:

Just few more trillions of $ to the dust bin. Why not keep the current status quo and send a man to Mars instead ?

Actually, lasers may very well be a good stepping stone to the other planets; there is actually some research into lasers as a major component of propulsion in space.

Would the recourses be better spent elsewhere? Possibly. Will they be? Probably not. Are there useful non-military applications of the laser technology the military is developing? Yes.