HORRIFYING NEWS: OPERATIONAL LASER WEAPONS ARE HERE AND READY FOR WARFARE.

Projects that get financed based on military applications then benefit non-military projects. Generally you'll find you can't get funding for a project that doesn't have military applications (citation needed).

I'm not saying that's right, but this does bode well for non-weaponised laser-based applications in the future.

Like the hundred or so other applications we already use it for?

Sure, but research that benefits the accuracy, stability and cutting power of laser technology benefits all fields thereof, and military budgets are usually massively in-excess of other budgets. Ergo, the improvements filter back to their respective (usually original) fields of application.

While it's true that there are good side-effects it is always kinda weird to see how much some countries waste on developing new weapon technology, especially compared to how much they invest into other things.
I've forgotten the sources of it, but if I remember correctly some peace-research foundations in germany get a few dozen million € each year. Institutions that directly research how to prevent humans from going mad at each other before it is too late.
Compared to the billions of money spent on the military it's saddening.

But not surprising.

People tend to forget that we are all just a bunch of nation states, the fact that most of us work together at all is outstanding.

But it is in our nature to try and put our people ahead of another's, and thus, carnage.

Humans fight and kill, there is no shame in it, it's just what we do.

So....

War. War never changes.

The issue with that is that it also makes it a lot more easier to kill whoever you want wherever you want without having to justify yourself, as nobody will even realize you did it.
It's nice for the attacker, but it is even worse for those who are being attacked without a justified reason.

War constantly changes, people however are rather static.

People are both the best and worst thing you will ever meet.

But so long as the waters running, and the breads on my table, I can be friends with my species.

Heh. I was recently thinking about how I would describe our society to a visiting alien race (I'm not crazy I swear) and that's exactly what I had in mind.

"On this planet, you'll probably find both the kindest person and most hateful person in the whole galaxy".

Does anybody know how far are they with rail guns though? I know they hade a big prototype made in 2007.

Supposedly there is a US destroyer with one.

Although they aren't bragging about it, so it's likely unsuited for military use.

(although I wonder how many ships will start to be equipped with these anti-drone (anti-missile? anti-personnel?) laser weapons.)

Wow, it is like you told him Santa isn't real...

Rail guns have the strong desire to bend themselves after just one shot when they're being used for real projectiles (not the cute stuff we use in hobbyist gauss/rail guns), that and a laser is likely cheaper.

I think this is cool. I may have broken a few laws here and there, but I'm pretty sure that they won't kill me over it

Don't worry, they worked up some rules of engagement and promised not to set any people on fire with it. Using it to ignite the fuel in a small boat and destroy it entirely is just fine, however.

The lesson here is they everybody should learn to walk on water like me.

Tony Abbott would love to get his hands on a boat-stopping laser.

Well i think they'll be viable one day. It looks like the Navy wants to use them for long-range high precision bombardment, not shooting down small boats. So in the future, we'd likely see lasers and railguns and missiles next to eachother. (because, try hitting an aircraft with a railgun)

Before someone asks: lasers have many problems in an atmosphere, including the fact that they are vulnerable to weather. So it's doubtful a laser will become the one-stop killing weapon of the future.

Ironically, the curvature of the Earth limits their range when high enough in the atmosphere

Seems they'd be quite the, ah, deterrent against pirate boats attacking commercial/passenger ships.