One thing that can safely be said about the military-industrial complex is that they are never short of ideas. Often outlandish and costly ideas, but they do offer up a continuous stream of mind-melting possibilities. Case in point: heating the Earth's atmosphere with lasers to create a "giant magnifying glass" for enhanced surveillance.
One of the more recent military trends is the development (and imminent implementation) of lasers and electronic warfare. The concept has appeared in new proposals for drones and anti-drones that utilize the electromagnetic spectrum for "death ray" weapons like the Falcon Shield and the High Energy Laser system.
Now, scientists at BAE Systems, one of the largest defense contractors in the world, is looking to combine the use of lasers and advanced optics to literally manipulate the atmosphere into becoming both a surveillance device and a "deflector shield" to protect against the laser weapons of the future. The system is called Laser Developed Atmospheric Lens (LDAL).