North Korea-flaggeg cargo ship seized by Panama carried Fan Song radar of an SA-2 Surface to Air Missile system

On Jul. 16, Panamiam authorities seized a North Korea-flagged cargo ship on a voyage from Cuba toward the Panama Canal enroute back to its home country.

The “Chong Chon Gang” was carrying components of a missile system cloaked in a cargo of sugar in what would be considered, if confirmed, a clear violation of UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

Later on the same day, President Ricardo Martinelli of Panama, posted a photograph in a Twitter message of what he described as “sophisticated missile equipment” found in the cargo.

After an open source imagery analysis, the military equipments found inside the containers can be identified as Russian made (or eventual clones of) SNR-75 Fan Song series engagement radar for the S-75/SA-2 Surface to Air Missile family.

Giuliano Ranieri, a contributor to The Aviationist, highlighted the matching details in the photo posted by Martinelli and one of the radar available on the Internet.

Image credit: Giuliano Ranieri. Sources: Martinelli and forum.valka.cz

The component is a P-11 swept beam horizontal array of the Fan Song.

Related articles

• Lethal: Watch this rebel hit a Syrian helicopter using an SA-16 shoulder mounted surface to air missile systems
• Japan Air Force fighters scrambled against North Korea aircraft for first time in four years
• An unknown story from the Yom Kippur war: Israeli F-4s vs North Korean MiG-21s
• China’s new stealth fighter flies with open weapon bay

About David Cenciotti

WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn instagram

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.