The U.S. military has been working on the next generation of weapons for our armed services — from infantry laser rifles to truck-mounted ray guns — so it's understood that we'll also need a defense from such things. That's why the Air Force is putting it to researchers to create a form of protection for aircraft, munitions and electronics susceptible to high energy laser (or HEL) weaponry that'll work on equipment new and old. A tall order, but the proposed solution isn't really all that crazy: a spray-on laser shield.

The shield would come in the form of a thermal compound or broadband reflector, but either way it wouldn't be designed to make vehicles and weaponry immune to the effects of ray guns. Rather, it'd give a bomb the few seconds of protection it needs to hit a target, or an aircraft enough time to fly out of harm's way.

The military also noted that the technology would have use outside of a warzone, such as protecting commercial aircraft, or ravers caught in the middle of a light show.

Via Wired Danger Room