Technology is certainly approaching the steeper part of the slope as today the Army announces Direct Energy Weapons (DEW) technology will be ready by 2020 for use by the Air Force and on ground systems by 2023. I think there is a lot more development that will accelerate greater advancements in laser technology systems prior to their targeted release dates making these systems even more powerful and capable. These weapons and defense systems would work well in a conventional warfare situation where targets are known and intentions are direct. The systems we need to develop are for countering more covert scenarios as in terrorist plots where the enemy is already behind our lines. Breakthroughs in tech, whether it's sophisticated hardware systems or analyzing huge sums of real-time data, will define the future.
Read more about killer technology here.
Update - 06/14/2016 The cat technology is getting better every day.