Technique characteristics and current situations of four kinds of typical short-wavelength infrared(SWIR) lasers such as phosphorus semiconductor laser, Er-doped fiber laser, Er-doped solid-state laser and solid-state laser based on optical parametric oscillator were analyzed. Their applications in active photoelectric reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance were given. In order to meet the requirements of military photoelectric system on reducing size and weight for laser devices, how to increase the output power/energy of lasers, such as semiconductor laser, fiber laser and Er-doped solid-state laser became the main development direction of SWIR lasers. Advantages of solid-state lasers based on optical parametric oscillator were still obvious at long-distance gated-viewing, flashlight imaging radar and laser damaging. The laser output energy and repetition frequency should be further improved.