Things like this have been at the prototype stage at Sandia since the 1990s. When I started reading the article I started imagining how you would package a fiber laser and battery and when I saw the picture it looked like I'd imagined.<p>That weapon is fielded and it fires 2 second pulses. Prototype weapons in the U.S. fire much faster pulses that vaporize the first millimeter or so of your skin or clothing and produce an effect similar to a "flashbang"; once the air ionizes it absorbs the tail end of the pulse, the expanding gases create a physical impact that can knock you down.