Key point... they do make terrible weapons, hence the alleged sarcasm. What they are is incredibly useful tools for ground troops. Every ground troop in the Army has an AN/PEQ-15. It is completely obsurd to think every G.I. on the ground is begging for a JDAM if he uses his PEQ! Besides, you can only see it with NVG's on. The point is, if lasers are such common modern battlefield tools, then why is it that some crap you can buy at Office Depot can cripple a Tornado? Seems as if there are canopy coatings,laser safety glasses and visors and things of that nature that would be so common place now, for above the ground types, that this should not be a real issue for military aircraft. I was issued "Ballistic Laser Safety Glasses" when we had the old YaG laser with the serious NOHAD. But we never wore them, because we treated the LRF and all laser devices as a "Direct Fire Weapon". Too bad Romanian Fruit Pickers do not have that kind of tight weapons discipline. Being blinded by a laser is no joke but it seems as if it is an easily defeatable threat. Is it? Or, why is it not?