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 release did not give a cost for the weapon, but said each shot fired would only cost about $1.50.
A common marketing gimmick when it comes to future tech is giving the price as raw materials/energy only, and glossing over all the other costs associated with running the thing - see Musk’s stupid tunnels and every other gadget ban ever proposed.
Does this cost include cooling, or part replacement due to wear? What electricity cost are they using for the calculation and what infrastructure is required to supply it? How much does it cost to maintain this infrastructure?
Cause it’s one thing to wire this up in a lab somewhere off the industrial grid. But what would it take to forward deploy it? How fast do you plan to cycle between shots? Cause that has cooling and power implications - see the difficulties associated with fast charging EV stations.
A common marketing gimmick when it comes to future tech is giving the price as raw materials/energy only, and glossing over all the other costs associated with running the thing - see Musk’s stupid tunnels and every other gadget ban ever proposed.
Does this cost include cooling, or part replacement due to wear? What electricity cost are they using for the calculation and what infrastructure is required to supply it? How much does it cost to maintain this infrastructure?
Cause it’s one thing to wire this up in a lab somewhere off the industrial grid. But what would it take to forward deploy it? How fast do you plan to cycle between shots? Cause that has cooling and power implications - see the difficulties associated with fast charging EV stations.