A diode laser beam combining apparatus for producing a high combined beam power density in the far field at reduced levels of power consumption and heat dissipation includes an array of semiconductor laser emitters arranged in a collinear manner with respect to each other and having an emitter pitch between about 0.7 mm and 2.5 mm. The apparatus also includes a cylindrical lens for collimating emitter beams generated by the array of laser emitters in a direction perpendicular to a junction plane of the laser emitters. The apparatus further includes a micro-optic array and a long focal length cylindrical lens. The micro-optic array is configured to perform a rotational transformation of the collimated emitter beams. The micro-optic array has a lateral spacing in a direction parallel to the junction plane of the laser emitters that matches the emitter pitch. The long focal length cylindrical lens collimates emitter beams in the direction perpendicular to the junction plane after passing through the micro-optic array.