[bcoffey]

"To elaborate, that means he was injured when a laser was aimed at his eyes, right?"

Exactly. During the cold war, laser weapons were designed to ruin the optics in weapon systems and the lens in the human eye. If the pilot couldn't see, he'd crash.

[norton]

"...During the cold war, laser weapons were designed to ruin the optics in weapon systems and the lens in the human eye. If the pilot couldn't see, he'd crash."

Not quite true.
Sov's spent a lot of effort on optics and lasers. Not just to 'ruin optics' but to trick them.

Problem with a laser is that it is just as hard to direct as a bullet is and takes a LOT more power to employ.