The road to HELs is paved with good intentions. High-energy lasers (HELs) have been subject to much hype over the past few decades, often driven by national defense concerns. The first half of the article concerns the basic history of laser weapons and in the second half the author provides their perspective on HELs and hype.

HELs are seen as having huge potential for warfare applications such as anti-satellite lasers and ballistic missile defense systems. Despite much hype, great expectations, and outright promises, the applications of HELs have so far remained limited. The mismatch between what is promised and what can (already) be delivered brings great costs. Decisions to invest in technology come with opportunity costs; investments in one area means those investments cannot be made elsewhere. In the long term, overpromising often leads to research funding evaporating, although – curiously – HELs seem to be an exception so far.

Another problem identified in this article is the lack of self-correction when it comes to the hype surrounding HELs: ‘Despite past failures, interest in HEL weapons has not waned.’ In other words, even though no significant progress has been made on HEL weapons in decades, funding has not dried up and researchers are continuing business as usual.

This article, ‘High-Energy Laser Weapons: Overpromising Readiness’, provides valuable insights into the relationship between perceived or envisioned societal benefits on the one hand, and … on the other. Two particularly interesting features of HEL technologies contribute to the pervasive hype surrounding them: 1) they have the possibility of being a break-through technology, i.e. a technology where a sudden leap forward could potentially alter established ways of doing things, and 2) they can provide significant advantages to early adopters. In the realm of warfare, where countries continuously have to keep the upper hand, these features explain at least part of the pervasive interest. And yet, to maintain technological military superiority, it remains unwise to allow ‘money to follow hype’.