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. DAPA said the unit measures 9 meters by 3 meters by 3 meters (29.5 feet by 9.8 feet by 9.8 feet), and fires laser rays that are difficult if not impossible to detect…
