Abstract: As laser and laser-guided weapons are becoming less expensive and more available around the world, methods to defeat this class of threat need to be investigated to improve the protection of military platforms and assets. A laser decoy is an attractive choice as it can be deployed in a timely manner and accurately. Additionally, there is a potential to integrate this technology with a minimum of hardware changes. Even if the technique is quite simple, a variety of parameters needs to be optimized to decoy successfully an incoming laser-guided weapon. Although this paper does not provide the recipe to develop an effective laser decoy system, it introduces an escalating method to test the effectiveness of laser decoys. Four levels of testing are introduced with a discussion showing the strengths and limitations related to each of these levels. The test levels vary in complexity of set-up and degree of realism associated with them. Finally, this paper discusses briefly the development and test methods used by Defence R&D Canada Valcartier (DRDC Valcartier) in the development of laser decoys.