South Korea intends to target Pyongyang’s drones with lasers this year

South Korea will deploy laser weapons to shoot down North Korean drones this year, South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a video statement on YouTube.

DAPA has developed the directed energy weapons in cooperation with Hanwha Aerospace, for the project dubbed ‘StarWars’. The lasers are designed to shoot down flying drones by burning down engines or other electric equipment in drones with beams of light. The cost for one launch is approximately 2000 won (GBP 01.11 or USD 01.44).

The laser system, known as Block-I, neutralised 100 percent of its targets during a live-fire test on April 23, DAPA said.

While other countries are developing similar weapons, South Korea is likely to be the first to deploy them on a large scale, if it meets its goal to put the systems into practice this year.