The photo on the left is an unmanned aerial vehicle (like those drone aircraft that are being used by the military) being tracked and destroyed while in flight by a laser weapon developed by the Integrated Defense Systems unit of the Boeing Company. This isn't the first practical laser-based weapon to be developed, but the technology is certainly getting refined at a brisk pace. For all intents and purposes, these are full-blown "laser cannons" like something out of Flash Gordon or Star Wars.
Aim your browser here for more, including the next technical goal that Boeing is setting out to accomplish: mounting these laser weapons onto sharks.
(I'm kidding! :-)