Recent development of aircraft-based, satellite-based, ship-based and vehicle-based tactical laser weapons shows the practical prospects of tactical laser weapons, although existing series of experiments could only beat targets like rockets, unmanned aerial vehicle and so on at short range. Key technologies of tactical laser weapons include high energy pulse or composite (cw and pulse together) solid laser technology, beam combination technology, etc. The development trend of laser weapons has made a transition from super high power strategic overawe to low power tactical application. The ship-based laser weapons are expected to be the first actual combat equipment; the development of space-based laser weapons is one of the important directions of laser weapon research because of their important strategic value, the ideal working condition in space without air and no need of high laser power. In the near future, laser weapons will be the subversive weapons that can change existing war forms.