South Korea tests vehicle-mounted laser against drones

South Korea’s Cheongwang laser air defense weapon and a 30-kilowatt vehicle-mounted laser shot down all three target drones flown against them during a South Korean Army exercise on Oct. 14, manufacturer Hanwha Systems said.

The demonstration took place during the Army TIGER+ Future Warfare Integrated Combat Exercise hosted by Republic of Korea Army headquarters, in front of about 500 attendees including the army chief of staff, military officials, academics and industry representatives. Hanwha did not say how far away the drones were, what types were used, how long each engagement took, or how the three targets were divided between the two lasers.

Cheongwang, which means “light of the sky,” is the official name of the Laser Air Defense Weapon Block-I, developed by Hanwha Systems with South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development. Instead of firing missiles or shells, the system focuses a high-energy beam on a drone until its structure or electronics fail, and it keeps firing as long as it has electrical power. Hanwha puts the cost at about $1.50 per shot, in line with the roughly 2,000 won figure South Korea’s arms procurement agency has used since 2024.

South Korea began fielding Block-I in December 2024 and calls it the first operationally deployed laser weapon in the world. About five units have since been installed at major state facilities, including the Ministry of National Defense building in Seoul, and the system is rated in the 20-kilowatt class, Korea JoongAng Daily reported. The same report said engineers have since built a domestic laser oscillator, the core component that generates the beam, to replace a German-made part.

The program grew out of a December 2022 incident in which five North Korean drones crossed into South Korean airspace, one of them reaching the northern edge of Seoul, and fighter jets and attack helicopters failed to shoot any of them down. South Korea started developing the laser in 2019 with a budget of 87.1 billion won, and officials have kept its engagement range classified. The procurement agency has also acknowledged that Block-I struggles in rain and fog, a common limit for laser weapons, and plans a more powerful Block-II.

Hanwha said Cheongwang also destroyed four drones and two larger unmanned aircraft in a row on Sept. 16 at the 2026 Defense Drone Technology Exhibition organized by South Korea’s defense ministry.

“Laser weapons are core assets that will fundamentally change the game of air defense,” said Joohun Shin, head of the Laser Systems Business Center at Hanwha Systems.

Hanwha is developing a 50-kilowatt laser armored vehicle with its own money, aimed at export customers, and displayed it at the MSPO defense exhibition in Kielce, Poland, which opened Sept. 8. The company has not named any foreign buyer, and it did not provide specifications for the 30-kilowatt vehicle-mounted laser used in the Oct. 14 demonstration or say whether the South Korean Army plans to buy it.