There are reports coming out of South Korean media that North Korea is developing UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles).
However rather than develop them from scratch they have purchased an unknown number of American made target drones from a middle eastern country thought to be Syria. It is thought that North Korea is going to reverse engineer the drone to produce an armed drone to patrol the disputed border it shares with South Korea and it’s thought it would be used to attack South Korean troops based on Islands in the Yellow Sea during a conflict.
The american drone mentioned us thought to be MQM-107 Streaker. Developed by Raytheon during the early ’70s, the Streaker is a high sub-sonic sub-scale target drone used by both U.S. Army and Air Force for testing guided missiles.
Further details are sparse and even the media source remains unnamed but The Aviationist will monitor and report back when further details emerge.
Richard Clements for TheAviationist.com
Image: Wikipedia
At first it looked a little like an ME-262, but that’s the sort of approach I’d expect from the Iranians. A repurposed target drone? How convenient. If push ever comes to shove I’m sure South Korean and American forces can restore it to its original function. Any chance the North Koreans slavishly copied the range safety mechanisms?