North Korea tests AI suicide drone as Kim Jong Un looks on, says state media
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised the test of suicide drones with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, according to state media.
The KCNA state news agency reported on Thursday that Mr Kim inspected new upgraded reconnaissance drones capable of detecting tactical targets and enemy activities on land and at sea.
“The field of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence should be top-prioritised and developed in modernising the armed forces,” KCNA quoted him as saying.
Russia has provided North Korea with weapons in return for troops in Ukraine. (Reuters: KCNA)
A suicide drone, also known as a loitering munition, is able to “loiter” or occupy an airspace until a target is visible, then crash into it with its payload.
Nuclear-armed North Korea also officially unveiled an airborne early-warning aircraft for the first time, a capability that could improve its aging air defence systems.
Photographs published by state media showed Mr Kim climbing steps toward the door of a large aircraft with four engines and a radar dome mounted on the fuselage, and viewing the aircraft on a low fly-by.
Using commercial satellite imagery, analysts had previously reported that North Korea was converting a Russian-made Il-76 cargo aircraft for an early-warning role.
Russian help
Such an aircraft would help augment the North’s existing land-based radar systems, which are sometimes limited by the peninsula’s mountainous terrain, London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a report in September.
“The ability of an AEW aircraft to look down mitigates some of the challenges of the terrain and ground-clutter returns to track low-flying aircraft and cruise missiles,”
the report said.
Moscow had provided Pyongyang with anti-air missiles and unspecified air defence equipment in return for it deploying troops to help with Russia’s war against Ukraine, South Korea’s national security adviser Shin Won-sik said in November.
Mr Kim separately inspected newly developed equipment for reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, electronic jamming and attack systems, KCNA reported.
Photos showed a fixed-wing drone zeroing in on a tank-shaped target then exploding in flames. Mr Kim was seen walking with aides with what appeared to be a drone larger than an average fighter jet parked on the tarmac in the background.
North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s war against Ukraine are believed to have been engaged in drone warfare, gaining valuable battleground experience.
Reuters/ABC
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