I watched a video yesterday about the laser range finder on a tank. The interesting thing is that at long enough ranges, the laser expands into a cone that may be bigger than the target and give inaccurate readings.
Anyway, I look forward to this totally real and feasible technology.
Exactly, a laser pointer, while casting a millimeter-sized dot of light at short distances, its light easily gets meter-sized when they reach flight cruise heights, shining airplane's cabins and interfering with the pilot's vision.
However, as by inverse square law, the power is distributed across the beam.