Hanwha Systems demonstrates laser systems to Republic of Korea Army

The Block-I Cheongwang laser anti-aircraft weapon system during a RoKA exercise on 14 October 2026. (Hanwha Systems)

Hanwha Systems demonstrated its fixed and mobile laser systems for countering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during a Republic of Korea Army (RoKA) exercise on 14 October.

Hanwha Systems announced on 15 October that the demonstration involved its Block‑I Cheongwang laser anti‑aircraft weapon system and a 30 kW-class combat vehicle-mounted high-energy laser cannon.

The company said the two systems intercepted three UAVs during the demonstration.

Cheongwang was developed in collaboration with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's (DAPA's) Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and has been in service with the RoKA since December 2024.

Hanwha Systems said Cheongwang is electrically powered and can operate continuously as long as power is supplied, with each engagement costing approximately KRW2,000 (USD 1.5). According to DAPA, the system operates silently and uses fibre-based lasers to engage aerial threats.

Cheongwang was initially equipped with imported oscillators. In June, DAPA announced the domestic development of an oscillator for the system, intended for installation in the latest batch of mass-produced Cheongwang systems. The oscillator was developed by the ADD in collaboration with Hanwha Systems.

It is unclear whether the Cheongwang system used in the latest demonstration was equipped with the domestically developed oscillator.

According to DAPA, the domestic oscillator increases laser output by more than 50% compared with the imported oscillator. Engagement times against drones, by which DAPA very likely means relatively simple rotary-wing UAVs, have been reduced from 2–4 seconds to 1–2 seconds, while engagement times against more complex UAVs have fallen from more than 10 seconds to within a few seconds.