Concerns about the military’s waning technological dominance have fueled a $200 million boost to directed energy research in the Senate Armed Service Committee’s (SASC) defense authorization bill.The committee’s version of the fiscal year 2016 bill contains $400 million for a new initiative meant to propel the creation of technologies that would help the military services retain their edge. Half of that sum would fund efforts to develop directed energy technologies, such as lasers capable of taking down small unmanned aerial…
