Possible disruptor? Article on ABC. In short: South Korea has announced plans to deploy lasers to shoot down drones sent by North Korea.

Officials say the technology is invisible, noise-free, runs on electricity alone and costs $AU2.15 per shot.

What's next? The"Block-I" system technology is set to be rolled out this year.

Laser Anti-Aircraft Weapon

This is a high-energy laser weapon system capable of providing protection against small unmanned aerial vehicles and multicopters at key facilities. The application of a mobile platform and increased power/precision will help better deal with more advanced threats.

Small Laser Weapon

As a small, lightweight high-energy laser weapon system capable of providing various laser output levels through modular design, this is available for infantry and mounted on mobile platforms.

The technology has successfully achieved a 100 per cent shoot-down rate in previous tests, and with future improvements, it could become a "game-changing" weapons system capable of countering aircraft and ballistic missiles in the future, DAPA said.

But some analysts like Senior Researcher at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs, Hong Sung-pyo, said it was too early to be sure about the weapon's capabilities.

"Laser weapons have not yet been put to practical use worldwide, and further verification and more time are needed to determine whether they can be utilised as a practical weapon system," he said.