The U.S. Airforce is planning to implement laser weapons on its C-17 and C-130 airfcraft in the next decade. As miniaturization of the technology becomes more and more capable they also plan to mount them onto fighter jets and drones. So instead of carrying a handful of missles, they will be able to fire a laser hundreds of times on a few gallons of jet fuel.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/05/us-air-force-will-have-first-combat.html?m=1
Dam science.
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Arn't they also working of super heated plasma based shields for combat air craft? I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere