Counter-UAV Laser
North Korea has been actively developing drones for military use, most notably deploying them to spy on South Korean military installations. North Korea is known for its high level of attack drone technology, so the development of laser anti-aircraft weapons is expected to be of great help to the security of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea's drones cost only 20 to 40 million won to make and have a wingspan of 1.92 to 2.45 m, making it difficult to detect with military radar.
As the fear of drone terrorism has become a reality, the need for drone-catching laser weapons is growing. Korea is keen to develop a Laser Anti-Aircraft Weapon [reije daegong] system that can precisely strike small UAVs with domestic defense companies under the supervision of the Defense Science Research Institute (ADD), which is evaluated as the birthplace of the ROK military's new weapons development. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration emphasized that there is no country in the world that has fully deployed laser anti-aircraft weapons, and that if it is developed, Korea's defense science and technology will take a leap forward. The military plans to continue improving its weaponry so that it can intercept fighters and satellites in the future.
South Korea will launch a project to develop anti-aircraft laser weapons to neutralize drones used to conduct terrorist attacks as well as unannounced reconnaissance. The state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration(DAPA) revealed on 17 September 2019 details of the new weapon system, which will fire laser beams created from optical fibers to neutralize a target. The announcement comes days after key Saudi Arabian oil facilities were suspended due to fires from drone attacks claimed by the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen.
The system is capable of precisely striking drones and multicopters at close range. The state agency said the system is invisible, noise-free and operated by electricity, only costing two-thousand won per strike. Based on related technologies developed by the state-run Agency for Defense Development, DAPA plans to inject 88 billion won to complete the laser weapons system by 2023.
South Korea will develop or purchase a new laser air defense weapon to bring down small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sent by North Korea, military officials said 28 September 2016. “Amid growing worries about possible terror attacks by North Korea’s unmanned drones, we are planning to secure a high-precision weapon which can detect, trace and hit a small aircraft,” a defense official told Yonhap News Agency. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has entered into a project to develop core technologies for a laser weapon. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has designated Hanwha Defense Systems as test product developer, according to the agencies. The move came after the military detected but was unable to down North Korean UAVs that crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) five times in August 2016.
Seoul will be investing approximately 88 billion won into building an anti-aircraft laser system capable of shooting enemy drones out of the air by 2023. This anti-aircraft system, developed from technology researched by ADD, would use optical fibers to generate laser beams that can be fired at small fixed-wing UAVs or helicopater drones from a short distance. The laser, a DAPA spokesman said, would neither be visible to the human eye nor would require any ammunition, only an electric power source.
While they seem like something out of science fiction, such lasers may very well become a mainstay of anti-drone defense systems. Raytheon, a U.S. defense contractor, announced last month it had delivered the first anti-drone buggy to the U.S. Air Force that can use electro-optical and infrared sensors to track drones and then destroy them with its laser.
During the Seoul Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2019, where South Korea showcased its latest military equipment, defense manufacturer Hanwha demonstrated a laser system capable of detecting and neutralizing objects on the ground such as land mines or bombs, reducing the danger posed to soldiers. Kim Chun-gil, a defense strategy and business development manager at Hanwha, told the Korea JoongAng Daily that the system has a range of around 300 to 400 meters (1000 to 1,300 feet) for objects on the ground. Further development would allow it to accurately take down objects in the air.
The Agency for Defense Development has acquired key laser beam technology and is on its way to focusing on systematic sophistication and miniaturization of the new weapons system. "We started to develop the hard kill system last year and have acquired key laser technologies. We aim to finish development within 2023," an Agency for Defense Development official said 20 Janaury 2020.
The downside of the hard kill method are its limitations due to the weather situation such as rain and snow. A lack of visibility of the target could cause difficulty in intercepting it. The Korean government is also considering the soft kill method using jamming technology.
Several advanced countries have already developed or are developing drone-killer lasers. The U.S. has the 10 kw-laser Area Defense Anti-Munitions, Israel the 20 kw-laser Iron Beam, and the 20 to 30 kw High-Energy Laser effector. All of them are capable of intercepting drones flying at a low altitude of 1 to 2 km.
Research and development of the counter-UAV (C-UAV) technology is being conducted at the Hanwha Systems Research Center located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. There, researchers are conducting integration tests on the first prototype, which consists of a two-paneled radar system, each panel measuring 52 cm x 60 cm (20.5 in x 23.6 in) and designed to detect an apple-sized object at a distance of 3 kilometers (1.6 N mi) under a coverage radius of 200 degrees. The radar is designed to be interoperable with the company’s Quantum Eye electro-optic system.
According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the military will spend some $74 million to develop the anti-drone weapons systems codenamed Block-I by 2023 for operational deployment. “The laser weapons system is to be capable of directing lasers from optical fibers at aerial targets at a short distance to take them down,” the DAPA said in a press release. “It can react quickly to threats and is capable of firing a number of shots without physical bullets and shells.” Relying on electrical power, the system is economically efficient since it costs only around $2 per shot, the agency said.
Hanwha Corporation will participate as a prototype developer under the supervision of ADD and start the 'Korean Star Wars' business. By introducing an 'evolutionary development strategy', the company plans to improve its performance so that it can intercept even fighters and satellites in the future. 'Evolutionary development' is a strategy that divides the target value of operational operation performance in consideration of the timing of development and securing of technology and the degree of development risk when developing a weapon system, repeats the same development stage twice or more, and finally completes development. If the evolution of laser anti-aircraft weapons goes smoothly, it is said that the successor products after Block-I will have about 50% improvement in laser power (unit kW) compared to Block-I. The higher the laser power, the better the accuracy and range.
Hanwha Corporation announced on 31 May 2021 that it had won a contract to manufacture a prototype of a laser oscillator. The project is supervised by the Defense Science Research Institute (ADD), and the total contract size is KRW 24.3 billion over a four-year development period. A laser oscillator, a device that generates a laser beam, allows the laser to go 'far' and 'strong' so that it can hit a target several kilometers away. It is the core technology that determines the performance of laser weapons. According to Hanwha, the laser oscillator being developed this time also applies advanced light source technology. It works by gathering multiple laser beams together to increase the laser's output.
For the past 20 years, Hanwha was focused on researching high-power laser light sources and laser-based sensor systems. As a result, in 2019, it was the first in Korea to win an order for a laser anti-aircraft weapon system development project hosted by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. By winning the order for this project, the company once again proved its core technology in the laser weapon field. A Hanwha official said, "Currently, Hanwha is the only Korean company participating in the development of a prototype laser anti-aircraft weapon supervised by ADD".
At the 'Laser Technology', the first session of the 'Korea Mad Scientist Conference' held at the Johnson Auditorium of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul on 23 November 2021, the military and experts said, “The laser weapon, which takes seconds from detection to strike, can reduce the speed of war. We will make it progress at the speed of light.” The event, co-hosted by the Army and the National Science and Technology Research Association, is modeled on the 'Mad Scientist Conference' held by the US Department of Defense to hear advanced technologies introduced by scientists. This event, held for the fourth time since the first held in 2019, was held under the theme of 'The Game Changer of Future Wars, and about 50 military officials and researchers attended.
