North Korean UAVs

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t.me

Cyberspec News

Meanwhile, in North Korea, new ultra-modern, heavy drones and an AWACS aircraft have appeared. Aircraft of this class are designed for reconnaissance and monitoring of airspace in flight, due to which the surveillance radius increases. For example, the Russian A-50U is capable of detecting a...
t.me t.me
 
sahureka said:
With the possibility of them making a turboprop powerplant for fixed wing aircraft, I was curious to see what their turboprop modified Yak-18/CJ-5 might look like.
And then I also played with the images with the CJ-6 (which some sources indicate as being available from the DPRK)
... Again, it's just out of curiosity
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Idea already realized by Myanmar with the MTX-1B derived from the CJ-6 with turboprop engine.
Knowing the collaboration already realized in the past, it could also be taken into consideration by the DPRK
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sahureka said:
Idea already realized by Myanmar with the MTX-1B derived from the CJ-6 with turboprop engine.
Knowing the collaboration already realized in the past, it could also be taken into consideration by the DPRK
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Interesting.
 
I made a simple speculation about Saetbyol-4 before, but the previous speculation only considered the nozzle details of the engine, but did not analyze the specific size and engine installation position.
This time, based on the multi-angle photos of the newly modified Saetbyol-4, I made a simple guess about the size and engine inlet position.
The new forecast shows that North Korea may have cut the original engine short, and they may have removed or cut the afterburner of the original engine and continued to use the original nozzle system.
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KUMA said:
I made a simple speculation about Saetbyol-4 before, but the previous speculation only considered the nozzle details of the engine, but did not analyze the specific size and engine installation position.
This time, based on the multi-angle photos of the newly modified Saetbyol-4, I made a simple guess about the size and engine inlet position.
The new forecast shows that North Korea may have cut the original engine short, and they may have removed or cut the afterburner of the original engine and continued to use the original nozzle system.
View attachment 767353
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It is worth mentioning that according to my analysis, the engine accessory gearbox can be directly maintained after the skin on the side of the engine compartment is removed.
 
The official report no longer mentions improvements (like last time), but rather satisfactory results.
This may mean that the overheating of the exhaust section has been resolved and that new additional cooling inlets are the definitive solution.
 

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Now the question is whether this has something to do with the development of UCAV. Given North Korea's appetite, it wouldn't be surprising.
 

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New article (September 25, 2025) by 38North on North Korean drones, but what I find most interesting is in the second part of the article, where recent satellite photos show new sites and others undergoing expansion, designed for aeronautical maintenance and manufacturing.
This would confirm North Korea's desire to strengthen and expand its aeronautical production sector, which could soon lead Kim Jong-un to be photographed in front of new products.
www.38north.org

Current Status of North Korea's Drone Program - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea

North Korea is expanding its military drone program. During a visit to North Korea’s Unmanned ...
www.38north.org
 
User ‘Giorgio c’, my fellow countryman on the Italian forum, has identified two further changes in the latest version shown.
There is also an additional air intake at the top, highlighted in black, and the front bogie has been replaced with a different design
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KUMA said:
I made a simple speculation about Saetbyol-4 before, but the previous speculation only considered the nozzle details of the engine, but did not analyze the specific size and engine installation position.
Click to expand...
Powerplant tract on a 'creative source':
 

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1994916987504636285
It looks like the Saetbyol-9 is undergoing its own development program judging by the differences between the first version we saw & now this one
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We can see that the wing,the nose,the rear intake & the position of the landing gear wheel well is all different.
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It looks like they`ve also moved on from their initial GBU-39 clone & developed their own GBU-53 equivalent,tho with a noticeably longer nose section.
 
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