Odd Lots · Friday, September 4, 2026
Wayne Sanders, Senior Defense Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence and former Army Colonel, explained the fundamental differences between laser and microwave directed energy weapons. Lasers act like precision sniper rifles, concentrating energy to burn a single target, while high-powered microwaves are described as electronic shotguns, capable of affecting multiple systems simultaneously by attacking electronics.
“So when you look at a laser, a laser is essentially a precision weapon. It concentrates energy into a narrow beam and typically attacks one target at a time. But when you look at high powered microwaves, those weapons attack electronics. It's a larger beam that can potentially affect multiple systems simultaneously.”
“What I mean by that is a laser is a sniper rifle and a microwave is the electronic shotgun.”