Skyguard

In the grand vision of directed-energy weapons, high-powered laser systems would create a virtual shield against all manner of projectiles -- missiles (cruise and shoulder-fired), rockets, artillery shells, mortars -- as well as unmanned aircraft. This artist's rendering dated circa 2006 from (once again) Northrop Grumman shows how the defense contractor envisioned a system called Skyguard defending a seaside airport. The company said at the time that Skyguard's shield would have a five-kilometer radius (20 kilometers against shoulder-fired missiles); bear in mind, though, that news reports pegged the cost at tens of millions of dollars. Ambitions for laser weapons have been scaled back considerably since then.

The ground-based Skyguard was derived from the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system that Northrop Grumman developed for the U.S. Space and Missile Defense Command and for Israel's defense ministry. The THEL Testbed, developed in the late 1990s, was in residency at the Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.