The high average power infrared Free Electron Laser (FEL) provides intense beams of laser light that can be tuned to atmosphere-penetrating wavelengths.

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The US Navy's free-electron laser has broken a few records already, but it's just plowed through another fairly big one -- one that its creators say could put it on the fast track to actually being used to shoot down missiles.

ENGADGET: US Navy's free-electron laser breaks another record, takes aim at missiles next

While some of these weapon and sensor systems like the Electromagnetic Railgun or the Free Electron Laser are at least a decade away, the Laser Weapon System and Air and Missile Defense Radar systems are almost ready for prime time deployment today.

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To be accurate, Lima is using a technique known as Electron Beam Melting (EBM) which is more advanced than your basic laser sintering method.

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Earlier this year a team at Lund University in Sweden used a laser with pulses measured in attoseconds (billion billionths of a second) to record an electron in motion.

ECONOMIST: Ultra-fast lasers