South Korea has shown a combat laser Block-I designed to intercept drones. The fiber-optic laser Block-I is designed to combat small UAVs at a distance of up to 3 km, the laser power is 20 kW. The Block-I laser has already begun to be mass-produced, this year the troops will receive it. The Block-I laser exists in a mobile and stationary version. The modernized version Block-II will be able to hit aircraft and ballistic missiles, how they will be able to intercept ballistic missiles is still unknown. Laser Air Defense Weapon Block-I was developed as part of the South Korean Star Wars project, research on it began in 2019, $ 63 million was spent.
The laser is manufactured by Hanwha Aerospace, the cost of a Block-I laser shot is one and a half dollars.
The Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile was displayed at a military parade to mark the 76th anniversary of the South Korean Armed Forces. The Hyunmoo-5 missile system is currently the most powerful in South Korea. The Hyunmoo-5 missile is capable of carrying an 8-9 ton conventional warhead and penetrating deep into the ground, destroying underground bunkers. The Hyunmoo-5 missile weighs about 36 tons and is capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 3.5 thousand kilometers. By reducing the weight of the warhead, the missile’s range could be about 5,000 kilometers. The missile has independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing it to hit multiple targets. The Hyunmoo surface-to-surface missile is considered one of the key assets in the three-axis deterrence structure against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
South Korean F-15Ks have conducted exercises with the Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile, such exercises have not been conducted for seven years. It is worth noting that Ukraine is currently trying to obtain Taurus missiles from Germany. The Taurus missile was developed by Taurus Systems GmbH, a joint venture between the German company MBDA Deutschland and the Swedish company Saab Bofors Dynamics AB. The missile was developed in 1998 and has been in production since 2004. The Taurus KEPD 350 missile is designed to destroy ground targets without the aircraft entering the air defense zone.
In short, the Taurus missile is considered successful, its cost is about 950 thousand euros. Compared to the SCALP-EG missiles, the Taurus missile looks like a better product. The Taurus missile has an inertial navigation correction system using GPS. Guidance is also carried out using digital maps, which allows ignoring interference from electronic warfare, the missile flies with terrain following at an altitude of about 30 meters. Taurus KEPD 350 has a range of 350-500 km, Taurus KEPD 150 up to 150 km. The mass of the missile's warhead is 481 kg, the flight speed is 730-1100 km/h. South Korea has purchased 267 KEPD 350K Taurus missiles since 2013 to equip F-15K aircraft.
South Korea's Defense Development Agency has released footage of ten unmanned boats heading out to sea in a group. The models of the sea drones are not disclosed, but the video shows the drones interacting synchronously.
