North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to mass produce suicide drones amid global military competition
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the immediate full-scale mass manufacturing of “suicide attack” drones and overseen their testing, according to a media report.
Kim was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency as stating that drones, often referred to as loitering weapons, had become “an essential requirement in military aspect nowadays,”.
The drones flew a variety of routes and hit targets with accuracy, according to the study. The pictures allegedly depicted vintage tank types being blown up and a BMW automobile being damaged.
According to Kim, military officials are probably aware of the success drones have had in wars of all sizes, which is why competition for their use is intensifying globally.
“The military authorities in the world will probably recognise that the drones are achieving clear successes in big and small conflicts. This is a trend that has emerged as an essential requirement in the military aspect nowadays,”, he said.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim gave on-site instructions for the testing of many kinds of suicide attack drones made by a linked company and an associated institute of the Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex the day before.
Additionally, images showing Kim chatting with officials close to at least two distinct kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles were released.
Suicide drones have been employed in growing conflicts throughout the world, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East, to extend the fight without the employment of expensive and lethal cruise and ballistic missiles.
As per the KCNA, the “suicide attack drones” to be used within different striking ranges are to perform a mission to “precisely attack any enemy targets on the ground and at sea”
The tests involved the drones precisely hitting the targets after flying along various preset tactical routes, it added.
The supreme leader of North Korea has also previously experimented with the actual deployment of suicide drones. Kim said Pyongyang’s military should be outfitted with attack drones “as early as possible” after overseeing a test of the country’s own attack drones in August.
A white drone with X-shaped wings and tails crashed into and destroyed a target that resembled South Korea’s K-2 main battle tank, according to photos from the drone test.
On the home front, Pyongyang deployed North Korean drones flying across the border for hours in strategic locations like Seoul and above the no-fly zone around the South Korean presidential office, and the South has already shot them down.
Russia-North Korea tie up?
Concerns over Kim Jong-Un obtaining technical assistance from Moscow have been raised by the suicide drone tests conducted in the context of North Korea’s quickly growing military partnership with Russia.
The development comes amid the recent military exercises of the United States, South Korea and Japan in international waters near North Korea which saw participation by ships and aircraft.
The US Indo-Pacific Command on Tuesday in a statement said the operation dubbed ‘Freedom Edge’ continues to demonstrate the defensive posture and unbreakable will of Japan, South Korea and the US to promote trilateral multidomain interoperability and to protect freedom for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula.
Recently Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law, ratifying the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between Russia and North Korea, which includes a provision committing both nations to mutual military assistance in the event of an attack on either side.