The Department of Defense's Non-Lethal Weapons Program will soon be testing what has been described as "a screaming ball of plasma" gun called LIPE -- Laser-Induced Plasma Effect. The weapon is designed to deliver a target-specific burst of high-decibel noise intended to confuse and startle an enemy into retreat.

DefenseOne.com's Patrick Tucker explains how the laser works:

LIPE’s lasers fire extremely short bursts (around a nanosecond, or a billionth of a second) of directed high energy at a target. That target could be on a person, a windshield, or merely a single point in space. The energy, relatively harmless at the LIPE levels, separates electrons and nuclei at the target area to create a blue ball of plasma. Additional pulses of directed laser energy manipulate the ball to make a noise that seems to come from nowhere.

Humorously, Tucker puts the weapon's effect in the context of battle:

Imagine walking through a field on a cloudless day when you suddenly hear the 130-decibel roar of a fighter jet. But you can’t spot the jet, or even tell which direction the sound is coming from. Rather, it seems to originate from the thin air in front of your face, like a shout from an angry, Old-Testament God. No, you aren’t hallucinating. And you aren’t Moses. You’re experiencing a new type of military weapon intended not to kill but to startle an enemy into retreat.

So far in lab tests, the weapon has only been able to be demonstrated at very short ranges. Researchers are working to test much larger distances of the laser at around 100 meters.

LIPE's total cost thus far is around $3 million paid for through "small-business-innovation-research contracts," according to the report. 

There were earlier developed plasma weapons before LIPE, but those proved to be extremely heavy and power hungry. Over the last few years, they've been able to make a more compact and energy-efficient weapon. Currently, the weapons boast sound pressure levels at near 100 dBs. The ultimate goal is to push 130 dBs -- a difference, they say, that goes from a lawn mower to a fighter jet.