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submitted 1 month ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

South Korea is beginning the mass production of a low-cost laser weapon that has successfully shot down small drones during testing, the country’s key arms agency said Thursday.

The laser weapon, called Block-I, “can precisely strike small unmanned aerial vehicles and multicopters at close range,” a news release from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said.

The release did not give a cost for the weapon, but said each shot fired would only cost about $1.50.

Imagery supplied by the agency appears to show a weapon around the size of a shipping container with a laser mounted on top and what appears to be a radar or tracking device mounted on one side of the platform.

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[-] snooggums@midwest.social 21 points 1 month ago

Imagery supplied by the agency appears to show a weapon around the size of a shipping container with a laser mounted on top and what appears to be a radar or tracking device mounted on one side of the platform.

So, 30 million for the setup and deployment but 1.50 per drone. Plus it is huge and unweildy.

Gonna need a lot of drones to make that more cost effective than another drone with a stick or net, both of which have been effective in the defense of Ukraine.

lolThis is probably an early step towards a man portable setup so I'm just joking about the focus on the cost to fire.

[-] pennomi@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Agreed, this is definitely first gen research.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 5 points 1 month ago

Probably 2nd or 3rd gen, laser weapons have been in the works for decades.

[-] ik5pvx@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

There's a rheinmetall video on YouTube, it's a few years old already. Definitely not first gen research, and it's good there's competition already

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this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2024
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