North Korea leader Kim Jong Un supervises test of AI suicide drones KCNA says

PYONGYANG - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of suicide drones with artificial intelligence (AI) technology and said unmanned control and AI capability must be the top priorities in modern arms development, state media reported on March 27.

Mr Kim inspected new upgraded reconnaissance drones that are capable of detecting various tactical targets and enemy activities on land and at sea, KCNA state news agency said.

“The field of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence should be top-prioritised and developed in modernising the armed forces,” KCNA quoted Mr Kim as saying.

The nuclear-armed North also officially unveiled an airborne early-warning (AEW) aircraft for the first time, a capability that could improve its ageing air defence systems.

Photographs published by state media showed Mr Kim climbing steps towards 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 have previously reported that North Korea was converting the Russian-made Il-76 cargo aircraft for an early-warning role.

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 2024.

“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.

One AEW aircraft would not be enough, however, and North Korea would risk cannibalising the rest of its cargo fleet to build more, the report said.

South Korea’s military said the aircraft’s operational capability is not yet clear, but its appearance indicated it is “large and heavy and probably susceptible to interception”.

While the aircraft was refurbished from the existing