South Korea on Thursday announced that it is ready to start mass-producing laser weapons like those in the ‘Star Wars’ franchise to shoot down North Korean drones. According to Newsweek, the drone-killing system, called the Block-I, will be deployed later this year. With this, South Korea will become the world’s first country to deploy a technology that is being developed by several armed forces. Moreover, the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that an even more powerful version is also being planned, which could be a “game changer” in the future. 

According to Newsweek, South Korea has named its laser program the “StarWars Project”. The country’s DAPA, which handles defence procurement, development and production, announced a 100 billion won contract to build the drone-killing weapon. It touted the weapon as effective and cheap and revealed that the laser is quiet and invisible, and one shot costs only 2,000 won. 

“Our country is becoming the first country in the world to deploy and operate laser weapons, and our military’s response capabilities on North Korea’s drone provocation will be further strengthened,” the agency said. 

The Times reported that Block-I uses fibre optic cables to generate a laser beam intended to be fired at relatively close range against small drones. Each shot is silent and invisible to the naked eye. It lasts 10 to 20 seconds and creates a temperature of more than 700 Celsius, which is enough to damage and disable a drone’s engine or battery. It can be fired wherever there is a sufficient supply of electricity. 

“Cost per fire is extremely cheap compared with other guided weapons,” Jo Yong-jin, a spokesman for the DAPA, told reporters in Seoul. “Responses to low-cost strike assets and weapons, such as small drones, will be able to take place very effectively and efficiently,” he added. 

South Korean aerospace company Hanwha Aerospace Co. is contracted to manufacture the weapons. Newsweek reported that DAPA is already planning to develop a more powerful, longer-ranged anti-aircraft laser weapon: the Block-II. This weapon will involve boosting the power of the laser beam to hundreds of kilowatts, with the aim of taking down larger targets like ballistic missiles and planes.

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Meanwhile, several countries, including the US, UK, Israel, Turkey, Germany and Japan have also developed laser weapons. Earlier this year, the UK’s Ministry of Defence tested a laser weapon, DragonFire, which reportedly destroyed incoming drones from several miles away during a trial. With this, the ministry hopes that it will pave the way for a low-cost alternative to missiles to shoot down targets like drones. It further said that the weapon is precise enough to hit a coin from a kilometre away. 

DragonFire will be used both by the Army and the Royal Navy as part of their future air defence capabilities.