[smdyc1]

I find this topic fascinating. As a defensive measure these could have immense value. I'm sceptical of any present long range value however.

The ballistic nature of artillery, missiles, and other projectiles allows hitting targets beyond the horizon. Lasers are uni-directional so whilst they would be great against targets in line of sight, I doubt you'll see laser weapon systems employed as long range weapons for a very long time.

Of course, you could deploy them from a platform like a satellite, or aircraft, but the power requirements are immense and any current day aircraft would probably be so large as to be a sitting duck. I recall they've carried out testing of this nature using a 747 as a test platform. Until they can make planes of that size more survivable, I guess we're stuck with defensive applications.