TL;DR
The ray gun is real, and it is entering service. Three U.S. allies are fielding high-power lasers that burn drones and rockets out of the air for the price of a few dollars to a few thousand dollars a shot, against tens of thousands of dollars for an interceptor missile. South Korea already has about five lasers standing guard at major government sites; Britain says its DragonFire will sail on a destroyer in 2027; Israel handed its first Iron Beam to the military last December. If the cost math holds, cheap drone swarms stop being a cheap way to drain an air defense, and the economics of small wars change. The catch is that the real-world record is thin, weather still blinds the beam, and each laser handles one target at a time.
Below the line, for paid subscribers: The full story: where it stands, how we got here and what's dated next; our Odds board on 6 milestones, starting with "A confirmed Iron Beam interception of a real threat aimed at Israel by 2027"; and every source.