South Korea will begin deploying drone-melting laser weapons designed to shoot down North Korean UAVs this year, the country’s arms procurement agency told AFP Friday.
South Korea To Deploy ‘Star Wars’ Lasers Against North’s Drones
South Korea will begin deploying drone-melting laser weapons designed to shoot down North Korean UAVs this year, the country’s arms procurement agency told AFP Friday. The new laser weapons — dubbed the “Star Wars Project” by the South — are invisible and noise-free, require no additional ammunition, operate solely on electricity and cost only about 2,000 won ($1.45) per shot, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The “Block-I” system, developed by Hanwha Aerospace, will be “put into operational deployment in the military this year”, Lee Sang-yoon, a DAPA official, told AFP.
The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. In December 2022, Seoul said five North Korean drones crossed into the South, the first such incident in five years, prompting its military to fire warning shots and deploy fighter jets, but they failed to shoot any of them down. The South’s “ability to respond to North Korea’s drone provocations will be significantly enhanced” by the laser weapons system, DAPA said in a statement Thursday.
It has successfully achieved a 100 percent shoot-down rate in previous tests, and with future improvements, it could become a “game-changing” weapons system capable of countering aircraft and ballistic missiles in the future, DAPA said.
Weapon of the future
The “StarWars” system — a “weapon of the future” according to official Lee — neutralises targets by directly hitting them with laser light generated from optical fiber.
Korean Conflict
The present-day Korean conflict is born primarily from the seeds sown during the Cold War – between the USSR and the USA. You may note here that after the defeat of Japan – which was the earlier controlling force of Korea – the superpowers were the USSR and the USA.
Korean War (1950-1953)
The Korean War was a major armed conflict that began on June 25, 1950, when North Korean forces, supported by the Soviet Union and China, invaded South Korea. The conflict quickly escalated into a full-scale war. The war resulted in significant loss of life and destruction, and it ended in an armistice agreement on July 27, 1953, but not a formal peace treaty. The Korean Peninsula remained divided along the 38th parallel, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was established.
Post-Korean War Tensions (1953-1980s)
After the armistice, North and South Korea continued to exist as separate and ideologically opposed states.
The two Koreas remained in a state of hostilities, with sporadic border incidents and clashes.
Contemporary Tensions (1990s-Present)
Tensions have persisted between North and South Korea, with occasional flare-ups and crises. Notable incidents include naval clashes, the bombing of South Korean facilities, and missile tests by North Korea.
