Camilla Jessen
Analysts: North Korea’s latest missile echoes top Western designs.
North Korea has shown what appears to be its own version of the German IRIS-T air-to-air missile, displaying the weapon on MiG-29 and Su-25 aircraft during events marking the 80th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army Air Force.
The display was reported on November 30 by the military outlet Militarnyi, using photos and video released through state media KCNA.
What the missile looks like
KCNA did not give the missile a name or any official details, but photos show it looks very similar to several modern short-range, heat-seeking missiles. Its shape closely matches the German IRIS-T, Japan’s Type 04, and China’s PL-10E — all of which are used for close-range air combat.
Experts estimate the North Korean missile weighs around 90 kg and is about 3 meters long.
That puts it in the same size category as the missiles it resembles.
Based on this, analysts believe it could have a range of 15–25 kilometers. Features on the back of the missile, including fins and what looks like thrust-vectoring, also match modern designs meant to make missiles highly maneuverable in dogfights.
Resembling foreign weapons
For comparison:
- Germany’s IRIS-T weighs 87 kg and is 2.94 m long.
- Japan’s Type 04 is about 3.1 m and 95 kg.
- China’s PL-10E weighs 89 kg and has a range of about 20 km.
This is only the latest example of North Korea showing weapons that look similar to well-known foreign systems.
Militarnyi also reported that during a November 28 display at Kalma Airbase, North Korea showed Su-25 attack planes carrying weapons that looked like the UK-French Storm Shadow cruise missile and the UK’s Brimstone missile.
Sources: Militarnyi, KCNA
