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. 

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.