This belongs on a ship.
No weight restrictions.
Access to large power source
Flexibility and room for mounting.

So how the heck does this weapon work with sea spay, sea salt and seagull crap all over the optics ? And I guess they don't plan on using this weapon in the rain or light drizzle either. Why wouldn't the Army be getting a weapon like this considering we've been fighting land wars for the past ten years ? Sometime the govt is completely stupid ........

re; RESISTANCE
While the weapon is not in use it will be kept under a sealed cover and when open clean air will be blown around it to keep dust an moisture off it. It is too bulky for it to be practical for mobile land warfare. ...Usually but not about this.

So, we'll be having reports of commercial airliners and satellites disappearing, just because they happened to be a few miles or hundred miles beyond the drone they were practicing with.

Well the first paragraph of this article has me baffled!! What has the bass player with Led Zeppelin go to do with the US Navy? Or is this some kind of witty reference to a Led Zep song?

@UncleToad
John Paul Jones was a sailor from Scotland, and fought in the American Revolution in the Navy.

I bet deployment is being "pushed forward" because of the N. Korean missile threats...

The real question is: Can it stop Godzilla?

Well let's see. If I give the underside of my fighter aircraft a mirror polish will this thing still work? What about rain, hail, fog or just ducking into a cloud bank? Everything it can do can be easily countered, so what's the point? Here's another multi billion dollar waste of the taxpayer's money. Just so the boys at sea have a new toy...

re; JAT
If the laser system cons the enemy into putting a mirror finish on their equipment the laser having never fired a war shot paid for itself handsomely.