North Korea military backed by 300 drones

By Park Sae-jin Posted : January 20, 2016, 15:30 Updated : January 20, 2016, 15:30

[Aju News DB]


North Korea has strengthened its military surveillance force with a fleet of 300 drones, which are still relatively unsophisticated but could present a security challenge for South Korean troops, according to 38 North.

Pyongyang has been operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for more than two decades since it acquired its first UAV from China sometime between 1988 and 1990, and initiated an independent development and production program in the early 1990s, Joseph S. Bermudez, a security expert, said in an article carried by 38 North.

Syria provided North Korea with access to its UAVs in 1994, with the North's UAV program expanded between 2005 and 2014, the expert said.

In recent years, South Korea has recovered four crashed North Korean drones which slipped through air defenses south of the heavily guarded border between the two Koreas, which are still technically at war with no peace treaty signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korean drones are nowhere near as sophisticated as those used by the United States, deployed mainly for short-range missions to take pictures, but concerns are growing that they could be weaponized for future attacks.

In early 2012, South Korea's defense ministry warned North Korea was developing an attack UAV based on high-speed US target drones imported from a Middle East country.

Most recently, a North Korean drone was spotted on radar on January 13 this year, when it crossed the border, and flew back quickly after South Korean troops fired shots.

Pyongyang has had an unsophisticated reconnaissance UAV capability since the 1990s, with its drone programme expanded both in numbers and capabilities over the past decade to operate about 300 drones now, Bermudez said.

The North's UAV force, while relatively unsophisticated at present, has now reached the point where it could present a security challenge for South Korean and US forces on the Korean peninsula, he said, adding the latest drone flight reinforced "considerable" concerns about Pyongyang’s UAV operations.

"In the future, that threat could grow to include Japan as well as US forces in East Asia if Pyongyang can develop UAVs with greater ranges and payloads, real-time video, electronic countermeasures and stealth capabilities," the expert said. "How rapidly that threat develops could depend on the North’s ability to acquire new technologies from China, Iran or elsewhere."
 
  아주경제 임장원 기자 = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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