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.
They better send some to Ukraine.
Make Putler happy.
Will they be mounted on sharks?
They seriously need to call the platform sharks.
There is no doubt that lasers will play a bigger and bigger role in combat systems, especially in a layered air defense networks.
But it’s dishonest how these articles only cite the cost of electricity. It would be like citing the cost of a single shell of artillery to imply that is the only expenditure when the system is used.
Just like a Howitzer, the parts on lasers experience wear and tear, but to replace them cost a hell of a lot more than a new barrel.
Yes, in the long-term lasers will be more cost-effective than ground to air missile interceptors*, but any reporting that is clearly trying to make an argument for cost savings, should have the integrity to get figures that factor in battlefield maintenance of those systems.
*When applicable. Lasers will not remove the need for any existing systems, but will provide a cost savings by providing additional options for the air defense system’s operators.
When discussing deterrents against drone swarms the cost per “round” is the correct metric…
The cost per round is a lot more than just power generation when talking about lasers.
The wear on tear on lasers is a lot different than other systems and when the case is being made for their cost effectiveness they need to be factored in, instead of the highly misleading figures that only prices out electricity.
What kind of wear are we talking about? Some of the laser types I can think of don’t seem like they would need to wear out.
What’s the kW or MW class of laser? If it’s too low, it could be ineffective against even tinfoil wrapped quad copters.
Imagine getting a massive burn because the drone trying to bomb you reflected the laser your colleague used to try to shoot it down.
Might still be powerful enough to blind the optics, which would effectively cripple them. Without a video feed neither FPV drones nor grenade-dropping ones would have the necessary precision to be effective.
Unless they’re gps guided, or they can turn their camera away from the laser source in time.
Unless they’re gps guided
These lower power DEW systems don’t target the optics they target propulsion, like the actual rotors themselves. Takes about 1-2 seconds to knock them out on the ISR type drones, maybe a bit longer on the FPV type depending on size.
GPS wouldn’t be effective at all for drones dropping munitions on infantry moving around on the battlefield, nor on FPV drones trying to fly into moving tanks or other vehicles.
And how do you turn a drone away from an infrared beam of light that would damage the drones optics almost instantly? You’d have to spot the laser system from hundreds of yards away, recognize it’s aimed at your drone, and turn away before the laser is fired. And then what? Just avoid turning your drone back the way you want to go, hoping another strategically positioned laser you didn’t see doesnt fire from a different direction?
A buck fifty a shot at the rate I pay is about 12 Kwh kwH 😉 of power. That laser has got to be way up there in power.
My coworker and I literally tried wrapping an access point in aluminum foil to replicate poor connectivity. It didn’t do shit. Even completely lined a cardboard box and put it inside with zero change.
Tinfoil won’t do shit.
https://blog.ibwave.com/a-closer-look-at-attenuation-across-materials-the-2-4ghz-5ghz-bands/
Yeah I’m no light expert but can’t they just make shilding and filters for this sort of attack vector?
Depends on the wavelength. Standard mirrors don’t always do mirror things at wavelengths far outside the visible spectrum.
Part of the advantages of UAVs is that you can deploy a lot of them cheaply with stuff you buy on eBay. While eBay does sell some of the more exotic mirrors for CO2 laser cutters (which are far-IR wavelengths), you couldn’t buy a lot of them to cover a single drone. It’d cut into the cost advantage, and would also weigh it down a lot.
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.
lol
This is probably an early step towards a man portable setup so I’m just joking about the focus on the cost to fire.
Probably 2nd or 3rd gen, laser weapons have been in the works for decades.
Plus it is huge and unweildy.
The US already has a DEW unit that fits in a UTV (Side by Side) for shooting down smaller drones.
The US also has a more powerful palletized version that fits in the bed of a pickup truck.
The South Koreans are just a few years behind is all.
The Journalist targeted a drone at long range and burned through the body. Make the drone closer and select a less beefy component such as a rotor arm and they go down quicker. BTW if you didn’t catch it in the article maximum effective range is well over 1 mile.
You also have to remember the US Military also isn’t going to allow a Journalist to publish the full capabilities of a fancy new future-tech weapon like this. Gotta leave some surprises in place!
Lmao Ukraine is about to become devoid of birds
Any radar sensitive enough to pick up drones is going to have an insane number of false positives
