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South Korea will produce a new laser weapon to shoot down North Korean drones, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced yesterday, calling the technology a “Star Wars program.”
Part of the country’s efforts to modernize its defense capabilities in the face of North Korean weapons advances, the new system has been in development since 2019 at a cost of 87.1 billion won (about 58 million euros).
Hanwha Aerospace is the supplier of the new system, which is able to “neutralize a target by directly illuminating it with a laser light source generated by an optical fiber,” DAPA explained in a statement.
The weapon is capable of “defending against small drones and multi-rotor aircraft” [outro tipo de ‘drones’] within walking distance,” according to DAPA. Once operational, South Korea will become the first country to use the weapon. That is expected to happen this year, the South Korean agency added.
Strengthen your defense
The weapon requires only electricity to operate and fires a laser beam that is invisible to the human eye and makes no sound.
In December 2022, five North Korean devices crossed the border between the two countries, one of which flew north of Seoul and then returned, and the South Korean military began to strengthen its defense capabilities against “drones”.
The South Korean military sent planes and helicopters to locate and shoot down four other “drones” near Ganghwa Island, but eventually lost sight of the devices due to their small size (less than three meters wide).
The incident marked a peak in tensions on the Korean Peninsula and raised questions about Seoul’s preparedness to respond to these drone incursions.
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