TL;DR
The ray gun has a purchase order. The U.S. Army has stopped only testing laser weapons and started buying them: a $464.8 million contract covers more than 26 truck-mounted lasers built to burn drones out of the sky, with the first one due to be ready for combat in early 2028. In December the Pentagon will put three lasers and a microwave weapon through a shoot-off in the Utah desert with up to $200 million in follow-on contracts at stake, and a driverless truck carrying a laser has already been put on display. If the program holds its dates, cheap drones, the signature weapon of today's wars, will start meeting a defense that costs electricity instead of missiles.
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 5 milestones, starting with "The Dugway counter-drone shoot-off is held by 2026"; and every source.