North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has demanded that his country rapidly enter mass production of explosive drones that self-destruct, declaring their development an “indispensable requirement” after inspecting the testing of the fatal flying device, state media said on Friday.
Images released by North Korean state media show Kim and various other officials at the launch site. Other images show a car and a tank being destroyed by what appears to be unmanned aerial vehicles, and the news agency has heavily blurred them.
Reportedly, as part of the test, drones “of various types precisely hit the targets,” state media said. They can be “used within different striking ranges” and are designed “to precisely attack any enemy targets on the ground and in the sea,” it said.
Kim said that use of such drones for military operations was being stretched across the globe and that the authorities understand that “drones are gaining crystal clear success in big and small wars,” state media reported.
These drones that detonate themselves, sometimes known as suicide drones, have been widely deployed with much effectiveness on the battlefield in Russia’s operations in Ukraine and in the Middle East.
Because they are comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and are typically flown in swarms-which makes it difficult to track an exact number of drones-this Iranian-made Shahed 136 drone has really changed the character of modern warfare: when these lightly-made devices operate against technically superior opponents, they carry with them an asymmetric advantage in battle.
The state media reported Kim “underscored the need to build a serial production system as early as possible and go into full-scale mass production,” adding that “such objective change urgently calls for updating many parts of military theory.”
The move comes as concern over North Korea’s military cooperation with Russia is growing in the West.
The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been deployed to Russia and “have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces” in the Kursk region, where Ukraine’s three-month incursion into Russian territory has stalled.
North Korea to mass produce self-detonating explosive drones
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees test flights of self-detonating drones, according to North Korean state media, on November 14, 2024. This image was partially blurred before its releas
North Korea
mass produce self-detonating explosive drones
