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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon chief technology officer Emil Michael at the Pentagon in 2025. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon's chief technology officer, Emil Michael, on Tuesday attended a demonstration of laser and microwave weapons in New Mexico.
Why it matters: It's the first known instance "of a sitting U.S. defense secretary personally observing a live directed-energy weapon firing," according to Laser Wars, which broke the news.
