Innovators who put forward the most promising white papers will be invited to pitch their idea to officials representing not only the Army but the other services, the joint Combatant Commands, and independent organizations like the Missile Defense Agency.

Instead of building a 100-kilowatt weapon, the Army now plans to leap straight to 250 or even 300 kW — which could shoot down much tougher targets.

The battery of eight missiles, while primarily meant to test out tactics, will be capable of combat. So will a prototype battery of lasers entering service in 2021.

“You want to kill a swarm of things — whatever that thing is — lasers are not really a swarm-killing tool. They can kill things fast, but they can’t kill a swarm of things fast enough.”

While Congress wrestles with CH-47 cuts, Army leaders are already looking ahead to hard decisions on high tech.

Army modernization isn’t just buying bigger guns. The devils lie in the smallest contractual details.