“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.
“When a laser weapon transfers heat to a drone, its surface melts. As the surface melts, the internal components catch fire, causing the drone to eventually fall,” Lee told AFP.
“This laser weapon uses electricity, so simply increasing the output allows it to travel at the speed of light,” he said.
“Laser weapons can travel even further in space where there is no air,” which gives it a significant advantage over conventional weapons, he added.
But some analysts said it was too early to be sure about the weapon’s capabilities.
“Laser weapons have not yet been put to practical use worldwide, and further verification and more time are needed to determine whether they can be utilised as a practical weapon system,” Hong Sung-pyo, senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs, told AFP.
“Laser weapons also have an operational range. While it may be possible to shoot down (North Korean) drones that come within this range, it is difficult to target those that are outside of it,” he added.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with Pyongyang ramping up weapons testing as it draws ever closer to Russia.
After Pyongyang sent multiple barrages of trash-carrying balloons across the border, Seoul last month fully suspended a tension-reducing military deal and resumed live-fire drills on border islands and by the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean peninsula.
