There are actually two types of GI Joe action we grew up with. The animated series had laser weapons, likely because they don’t look as violent. And some of the comics used real bullets. It looks like we’re getting closer to the actual laser version of GI Joe as the Navy plans to install laser weapons on ships within two years:

Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of the Office of Naval Research, tells Wired that they have pushed up the timetable from four years to two to install laser weapons on board ships.

“We’re well past physics,” Klunder told the magazine. “We’re just going through the integration efforts. Hopefully, that tells you we’re well mature, and we’re ready to put these on naval ships.”

Laser weapons! How awesome is that? Now we just need hand held “phasers” that can be set to “kill”.