Australian defense department tries to create directed energy weapons systems that can destroy tanks.

The problem with tann-killing lasers is that their energy level must be very high. The laser ray destroys the target by increasing free energy inside it.  The problem is that tank is a very large object. And there is room for very high-level free energy. The most effective way is to create so big laser. That just closes the tank inside its ray. 

Microwaves or high-power radio wave systems can destroy targets, as well as laser rays. The area where that energy pumping system creates the free energy is important if the system can close the target inside the beam. It can raise the free energy level in the entire system. And that makes it easier to break the metal structure in armor. 

That thing denies the possibility that energy can conduct, away from the target's shell. The laser simply warms the tank. And when its energy pumping ends, the energy that travels out from the vehicle destroys it. The level of free energy is not the only thing that means something. Also, the area where free energy impacts the armor means something. 

The problem with the thin and powerful laser ray is it makes a hole in the tank. When the laser makes that hole it loses contact with the material. And then the system will not pump energy into the targeted material. If the system will aim a laser beam at an engine or ammunition, that thing breaks the mechanical parts or detonate ammunition. 

In some models, the system decreases the temperature of the target before it starts to warm it. The idea is that the infrared laser sends multiple high-energy pulses to the cold structure. And that thing causes a similar effect that destroys hot dishes on the table. 

The laser can pump lots of energy to the target, and then the liquid gas will drop its temperature. In some models, the system will simultaneously drop and increase the temperature in the target. That thing will break the structure immediately. 

The use of direct energy weapons against tanks is not a new idea. Sometimes is planned to use crossing radiowaves with opposite polarities. And some other plans included microwave weapons as potential tank killers.

Microwaves are acting like shotguns. And they can use to drop entire drone swarms at the same time.  The laser systems are used to shoot down drones and aircraft. The reason why laser is very effective against those small targets is that it doesn't need ammunition. That means it can shoot as long as there is electricity. 

Lasers don't need very much electricity if it creates its ray by using acetylene light. But if those systems are using electric light for making that ray, the source of that electricity doesn't mean anything. 

But the problem is that the tank is less vulnerable than light aerial vehicles. Another thing is that there are lots of metals in the tank that can conduct energy away from the impact point. So the system requires a very high-scale area that can create the free energy that destroys the material. 

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/australia-anti-tank-lasers