[IROC]

This technology/capability has been around for quite a while. I worked on aircraft-based versions of this system. We used COIL lasers for the power output, but solid state lasers have come a long way. Ship deployment makes a lot of things easier as the power required for solid state lasers is substantial and so are the cooling requirements. It's harder to package the power/cooling on a land-based vehicle (or especially an aircraft).

The laser targeting part is actually easy. Shooting down an aircraft is child's play. It's line of sight. For the ground-based systems I worked on, there were concerns about hitting things you didn't want to. Again, ship-based eases that constraint.