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North Korea's strategic drones 'not as advanced as US aircraft': think tank

Pyongyang had been thought to be building copies of US drones.

By Taejun Kang for RFA 2025.04.02

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles that seem to be copies of advanced U.S. drones "merely mimic" the appearance of the originals and lack their capabilities, a U.S. think tank said.

Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test flight of a Saetbyol-4-class UAV at Panghyon Airbase. The North first revealed the Saetbyol-4 during a military parade in July 2023, drawing comparisons from analysts to a sophisticated U.S. drone, the RQ-4B Global Hawk.

The Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance UAV used for surveillance and reconnaissance and capable of monitoring vast areas with advanced sensors for as long as 30 hours without refueling.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, said the North Korean drones were not as advanced as the Global Hawk as they merely mimic the airframes of the U.S. aerial vehicles.

"Despite widespread claims that North Korea has been building copies of U.S. drones such as the RQ-4B Global Hawk, the North Korean drones are not clones," CSIS said Tuesday via its analysis platform Beyond Parallel.

The North Korean drones are "presently determined as not carrying advanced equipment similar to that found in U.S. UAVs," the think tank said.

CSIS reported that the airframe of the Saetbyol-4 appears slightly shorter, measuring approximately 12 meters (39 feet) in length, compared to the RQ-4B Global Hawk's 14.5 meters.

Saetbyol-9

In addition to the Saetbyol-4, North Korea's state media released footage of another drone in 2023, later identified as the Saetbyol-9, which appeared to be a replica of the U.S. MQ-9A Reaper - a remotely piloted attack drone.

However, CSIS believes that this characterization is also inaccurate.

The Saetbyol-9 appears slightly shorter, measuring approximately 9 meters in length, compared to the Reaper's 11 meters, it said.

The North Korean drone is unlikely to carry the advanced targeting and communications equipment found in the MQ-9A Predator.

Mimicking of the U.S. UAVs was likely undertaken to expedite development by utilizing proven airframe designs, according to CSIS.

"From a propaganda perspective, the North Korean designations may imply a level of capability that North Korea wants the world to believe that they have achieved," it said.

Last week, North Korea unveiled what appears to be its first airborne radar system and suicide attack drones equipped with artificial intelligence, adding to indications that Russia has provided technical assistance in exchange for the North sending troops to fight Ukraine.

The North's state media also highlighted the trial of a reconnaissance drone and released photos of a suicide drone test, inspected by Kim, showing what it said were AI-powered drones successfully hitting ground targets, including a tank.

During the inspection, Kim "made an important evaluation of the military effectiveness and strategic value of the strategic reconnaissance drone with improved performance and the suicide attack drones with the introduction of new artificial intelligence," the Korea Central News Agency said.

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