NI: Existing US lasers are not suitable for combating hypersonic weapons – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

The article also mentions the main limiting factor: laser power. It must be at least 1000 kilowatts.

But now the power of the most modern tactical laser system deployed is three times lower, the journalists said.

The effectiveness of laser beams is affected by steam, smoke and sand in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“The military is in shock,” the author of the article described the atmosphere at the Pentagon.