I may or may not know someone who was working on focused energy for the military. Not trying to dox myself here, but we were both active duty at the time and he went on to actually get out of the military while being immediately rehired as a contractor doing the same exact thing. The explanation he always gave (he might have believed it himself) was that he was working on a high powered laser system that could power a space elevator from the ground.

Regardless, the tech exists and is very pertinent to discuss.