Astonishing moment South Korea blasts drone swarm out of the sky in military drill - before finishing them off with a laser cannon

By SABRINA PENTY, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:16, 27 June 2026 | Updated: 15:20, 27 June 2026 South Korea used a laser cannon to shoot down a swarm of 50 drones during a live-fire drill as Seoul decides to strengthen its counter-drone capabilities.  Dramatic footage shows the moment South Korea's Air Force fired eight Vulcan Gatling guns at 50 incoming drones.  The swarm of unmanned aircraft is seen being destroyed as it approaches the weapons.  Some 44 drones were shot out of the sky from just over half a mile away within seconds.  The six-barreled cannons used to obliterate the swarm of drones can fire 3,000 rounds per minute  The remaining six were taken down using shotgun blasts and a laser.  'This was the first drill to defend against the infiltration of drone swarms, which are emerging as a powerful threat, using existing assets such as Vulcan guns,' said Colonel Nam Hyung-joo, head of the information operations division at the Missile Defence Command.  'Based on the results and lessons from this exercise, we will continue to develop our drone swarm response system', he added.  South Korea used a laser cannon to shoot down a swarm of 50 drones during a live-fire drill Dramatic footage shows the moment South Korea's Air Force fired eight Vulcan Gatling guns at 50 incoming drones The six-barreled cannons used to obliterate the swarm of drones can fire 3,000 rounds per minute It comes as South Korea's Defence Ministry announced on Friday that it will rapidly expand its drone and counter-drone capabilities It comes as South Korea's Defence Ministry announced on Friday that it will rapidly expand its drone and counter-drone capabilities to counter North Korea, including by training 500,000 'drone warriors' and distributing tens of thousands of unmanned systems across the frontline units. Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the military planned to produce 110,000 drones by 2029 for deployment across ​the army, navy, air force and marines, but the ministry later revised this to about 60,000, with around ​11,000 to be introduced in 2026. It said the systems would be issued across services, ⁠aiming to make drones a standard item for individual soldiers. 'Drones should no longer be equipment used by a limited ​number of units, but a universal combat tool,' Ahn told a briefing, adding they should be used by troops like a 'second ​personal weapon.' Ahn said Seoul would rely on 100 per cent domestically produced components rather than Chinese parts in building the systems, in response to security concerns. The announcement comes as both Koreas accelerate efforts to build drone capabilities, shaped by lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the ​Middle East, where unmanned systems have emerged as game changers on the battlefield. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.