What is the significance for the North Korean army? The North Korean version of the "Death God" reconnaissance and strike integrated drone appears in the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard | Drones | North Korea
The North Korean version of the "Death God" reconnaissance and strike integrated drone will greatly improve the shortcomings of the Air Force's insufficient precision strike capability.
In the previous article on the North Korean version of the "Global Hawk" drone, we discussed North Korea's first appearance of the "Nova" -4 long endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. In this article, we will explore and analyze the North Korean version of the "Reaper" drone - the "Nova" -9 integrated reconnaissance and strike drone.
How is the performance of the North Korean version of "Death God"?
When it comes to the surveillance and strike integrated UAV, many readers must think of the "Predator" or "God of Death" in the United States. These two UAVs can be said to be representatives of the surveillance and strike integrated UAV. They are not only active in hot spots around the world and frequently participate in wars, but also become the reference objects for many research and development of the surveillance and strike integrated UAV. Some of them are almost identical to the "God of Death" UAV in shape, some are different in shape, but their ideas are the same. The "Nova" -9 showcased by North Korea this time is known by the outside world as the North Korean version of the "Reaper" reconnaissance and strike integrated drone due to its very similar appearance to the American "Reaper".
The integrated reconnaissance and strike drone is actually an armed type of drone developed on the basis of long endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. For example, the MQ-1 Predator integrated reconnaissance and strike drone is developed on the basis of the RQ-1 reconnaissance aircraft integrating the Hellfire air-to-ground missile. It has both reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities and can attack targets as needed. Due to the widespread use of aerodynamic layouts that facilitate long-term flight and low fuel consumption turboprop or aviation piston engines, this type of drone has a hovering time of over 12 hours, and some models can even exceed 24 hours, making it very suitable for carrying out long-range reconnaissance and hunting missions.
However, this kind of non stealth slow speed UAV has a fatal disadvantage, that is, poor maneuverability and weak self-defense ability. Even if some surveillance drones are equipped with air-to-air missiles, their maneuverability is very poor, and there is still a chance to bully other UAVs or helicopters of the same type. If they encounter combat aircraft, it is basically unlucky. Therefore, the surveillance drones are icing on the cake for the party that holds the air supremacy, while for the party that does not hold the air supremacy, the effect of the surveillance drones is relatively limited. The Ukrainian TB-2 "flag bearer" surveillance drones in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a good example. UAVs played some roles in the early days of the conflict, but now they have basically disappeared under the attack of the Russian army. On the contrary, some cheap and modified commercial UAVs are more effective.
From the photos released by North Korea of the "New Star" -9, it can be seen that the drone adopts the same aerodynamic layout as the American "Reaper" reconnaissance and strike integrated drone, with a high aspect ratio flat wing and inverted V-shaped tail layout. The lower part of the rear fuselage is equipped with a vertical tail with a rudder, the engine is set at the tail, and a multi-channel photoelectric turret is equipped below the nose. Multiple antennas are installed above the fuselage, which should be used for communication and electronic reconnaissance. The drone adopts a retractable wheeled front three-point landing gear and uses a ground runway runway taxiing takeoff and landing method, with the ability to take off and land autonomously. Three weapon mounting points are installed below each wing, and composite mounting brackets can be used to increase the payload capacity. The "New Star" -9 displayed at the parade adopts a full hanging mode, with four hanging points equipped with dual mounted composite hangers, each carrying two air to ground missiles with a shape similar to "Hellfire". The other two hanging points are equipped with glider guided bombs.
Perhaps some readers are curious as to why North Korea's "Nova" -9 drone is so similar to the American "Reaper" drone. Did North Korea acquire this type of drone and then replicate it? From public information, it can be seen that American "Predator" or "Reaper" drones rarely appear in the Korean Peninsula, and even if they do, they will not enter North Korean airspace for activities. After all, there have been incidents where US EC-121 reconnaissance planes and OH-58D observation helicopters have been shot down before. North Korea is not polite to US or South Korean drones that enter airspace, and even if they operate near airspace, they may be shot down. Therefore, North Korea did not directly capture the above two types of drones. But it is worth mentioning that Iran once claimed to have captured the American "Reaper" drone.
In November 2018, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard's aerospace unit claimed to have successfully "captured" a US military MQ-9 Reaper drone, but Iran did not display the captured drone nor did it release any public images. In February 2019, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard released a video claiming to have successfully controlled the control system of the MQ-9 drone. The video shows an MQ-9 drone making a hard landing 10 kilometers away from the US Middle East military base. Prior to this, Iran had publicly displayed the captured MQ-1 reconnaissance and strike integrated drone, and later launched its own developed Witness-149 series reconnaissance and strike integrated drone.
To the shock of the outside world, in February 2022, Iran publicly displayed the Kaman-22 integrated reconnaissance and strike drone, which also had the same appearance as the US MQ-9 and was known as the Iranian version of the "Grim Reaper" drone. According to information released by Iran, the aircraft has a maximum range of 3000 kilometers, a payload of 300 kilograms, and a maximum hovering time of over 24 hours. A photoelectric turret is installed under the nose of the aircraft, and there are 6 external attachment points under the wings. It can carry different types of missiles and guided bombs, and can perform reconnaissance, surveillance, ground attack and other tasks. In the article "Nova-4 Drone", we have already mentioned the close military relationship between Iran and North Korea, so it is not impossible for North Korea to obtain Kaman-22 related technology.
What is the significance for North Korea?
In the article "New Star" -4, the author believes that North Korea's high-profile disclosure of the "New Star" -4 drone has political significance, and the display of the "New Star" -9 also has this purpose. Although more and more countries are able to develop integrated observation and strike drones, there are still a few countries that can develop large integrated observation and strike drones like the United States' "Death God". Among the neighboring countries of North Korea, only China and Russia have such weapons and equipment. South Korea has proposed to develop domestically produced integrated observation and strike drones, but so far they have not been publicly displayed, and it is likely that they are still under development. Japan is constrained by various factors and is still considering whether to introduce them. Currently, the unarmed version of the "Death God" drone introduced only has reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities, and is still used for self-defense. The team and the Coast Guard operate together. In this context, showcasing large-scale integrated unmanned aerial vehicles that only a few countries can successfully develop will undoubtedly enhance the confidence of the people.
In terms of military significance, the author believes that the emergence of the "New Star" -9 drone indicates that North Korea will pay more attention to the development of modern conventional weapons in the context of preliminary completion of strategic and tactical nuclear strike force construction. In the past, the outside world's view of North Korea's conventional forces was that the North Korean military has a large number of personnel and weapons, but the quality of weapons is not as good as that of the United States and South Korea, and can only gain some advantages through "sea of people tactics". Taking main battle tanks as an example, despite the large number of third generation or even third and a half generation tanks installed by the South Korean and US armies, the main force of North Korean tanks is still the first generation tanks, and the number of second generation tanks in the "Tianma" series is still relatively small. However, from the new types of main battle tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, and armored vehicle self-propelled artillery showcased by North Korea in military parades in recent years, it can be seen that North Korea's development of new conventional weapons has targeted the world's mainstream level. Taking tanks as an example, the new generation of tanks is equipped with active defense systems, and North Korea has also released test videos to let the outside world know that these new weapons are not a means of strategic deception.
North Korea has realized that unless the country is faced with the situation of life and death, nuclear weapons are difficult to use. The significance of nuclear weapons is more about deterrence. Some small-scale wars or military conflicts have many restrictions on the flexibility of the use of nuclear weapons. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has proved this. Therefore, while continuing to strengthen nuclear weapons, it is also necessary to strengthen the development of modern conventional weapons and shorten the gap between South Korea and the United States in terms of weapons quality. New UAVs such as "Nova" -4 and "Nova" -9 are products of this idea.
North Korea has publicly released footage of the launch of missiles by the Nova 9 drone, indicating that the drone is in the stage of test flights or small-scale deployment of troops. For the North Korean military, the most direct military significance of this type of drone deployment is to significantly improve reconnaissance, surveillance, and ground attack capabilities. Unlike the "Nova-4" drone, which leans towards strategic reconnaissance, the "Nova-9" drone has a strong carrying capacity and can strike at least 10 targets in one mission. Referring to the Iranian Ghaem-114 missile, this drone carries an air-to-ground missile with a range of about 10 kilometers, mainly used to strike tanks, armored vehicles, and sturdy fortifications. Gliding guided bombs should be satellite guided, with a larger warhead and a range of over 20 kilometers, which can be used to strike some high-value shallow and deep targets. Before the emergence of this drone, the main aircraft used by the North Korean Air Force for close range ground attacks were the Su-25 attack aircraft. However, due to the lack of precision guided ammunition, it mainly relied on rockets and unguided bombs, and its precision strike capability was relatively weak. The emergence of the Nova-9 can make up for this deficiency.
