I wonder if there would be humanitarian objections to using laser weapons on humans. Of course, we can already blow people up and maim them in various ways, but certain things are prohibited and I could see lasers being considered for that. The wounds that a laser inflicts might be horrific burns, or wounds caused by superheated flesh exploding. It sounds really nasty, especially for people who aren't killed instantly.
One of my first thoughts regarding effective laser weapons did involve the Navy. What I imagined was a number of defensive lasers which had highly accurate computer targeting systems that could protect a ship from incoming missiles. Since laser beams travel at light speed, missiles are just about standing still in comparison and so it seems like a powerful enough laser combined with accurate targeting and radar would make ships nearly immune to missiles.