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.

  • Batman@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    4 months ago

    Worked at a spring factory, a laser manufacturer bought copper springs by the boat load because they’d melt I guess

    • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      i would assume they used them in a heat sinking deal. Presumably to apply pressure to a diode package into a heatsink, while sinking heat, or something along those lines. Could be galvanic corrosion reasons also i guess.