An approach to the calculation of cross sections for laser-assisted excitation transfer processes is outlined for the dipole–dipole case. The internal atomic variables are treated in the Heisenberg picture, while the simplest form of semiclassical collision theory is used for the atomic trajectories. A simple physical picture in the spirit of the Weizsäcker–Williams method emerges: The laser-assisted excitation transfer may be treated approximately as a single-atom multiphoton process in an applied field.