North Korea shows off 2 weapon systems that look like American Drones.

 

A few thoughts on this...1. Was this stuff reverse engineered from all the crap we left in A-Stan?  The second one is that how did they get this stuff? I'm pretty sure that espionage is involved and if I was in charge of those weapon systems, i would want some answers on how they got the plans and workings.  This is kinda a big deal, our technology is what seperates us from China and Russia and if the "Hermit Kingdom" got an "in" with someone from our side, that is not good because someone here betrayed us for "M.I.C.E" This really bothers me and I can't explain why.

        I saw this from my work emails and did a bit of surfing and found the article.  I am still working a lot of overtime and hopefully it will slow down soon, I am really tired and am almost looking forward to the overtime slowing down.  

North Korea had another parade of weapons this week, but there were two oddities in the mix of the usual missiles. The country unveiled two new aircraft that look nearly identical to a pair of US military drones: the MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk.

Although the exact combat and reconnaissance capabilities of the new systems are unclear, their development and visual similarities to American unmanned aerial vehicles highlight efforts by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to elevate his country's drone program and potentially emulate that of the US.  

Photos and videos of the military parade held in Pyongyang on Thursday showed a convoy of trucks carrying drones that closely resemble the Reaper, a powerful and well-armed combat drone able to carry up to eight AGM-114 Hellfire missiles that can also carry out effective intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. 

Thousands of people can be seen standing along the sidelines and waving North Korean flags. The demonstration was meant to mark 70 years since the Korean War armistice — which ended three years of brutal fighting but not the war itself — and was attended by both Chinese and Russian delegations, the latter of which featured Moscow's embattled defense minister, Sergei Shoigu. 

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says an attack drone during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Thursday, July 27, 2023. 

Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

US airmen prepare an MQ-9 Reaper for take off on Highway 287 in Wyoming during training focused on agile combat employment on April 30, 2023. 

US Air National Guard/Master Sgt. Phil Speck

North Korea also published a video this week of the Reaper lookalike firing an unspecified type of missile in flight. That same footage featured the other drone doppelganger — an aircraft that appeared very similar to the RQ-4 Global Hawk. This unarmed system, which is significantly larger than the MQ-9, can operate at high altitudes and perform long-endurance ISR missions. 

Photos from a defense exhibition held in Pyongyang ahead of the parade also showed the Global Hawk lookalike stamped with the North Korean flag on its engine. 

Details surrounding North Korea's two new drones are scarce, and it's not immediately clear how closely they resemble their apparent American inspirations from an operational perspective. While both the Reaper and Globe Hawk have proven themselves in US military operations, the former being used regularly for counter-ISIS missions in the Middle East, the North Korean systems have only been used for show.

State-run media outlet KCNA referred to the systems as a "strategic reconnaissance drone" and a "multi-purpose attack drone," which were "newly developed and produced" for the country's air force. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, 2023. 

Photo by API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

An undated U.S. Air Force handout photo of a RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. 

U.S. Air Force/Bobbi Zapka/Handou via REUTERS

The new releases came amid a flurry of rare diplomatic activity for Kim Jong Un, which coincided with Thursday's high-profile military parade. Although North Korea commemorates the armistice anniversary as "Victory Day," the three-year-long armed conflict element of the Korean War ultimately ended in a stalemate. 

Visits by the Russian and Chinese delegations came amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, underscored by a recent string of North Korean missile tests and joint military drills between the US and South Korea. Last week, the Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS Kentucky arrived in South Korea, marking the first time in decades that an American nuclear-armed sub had docked in the country.  

Meanwhile, state media said Shoigu and Kim discussed regional and international security issues, and Moscow's defense chief even presented the North Korean dictator with an autographed letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin. North Korea is one of a few countries to back the Kremlin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, although Pyongyang has denied US assertions that it sent weapons to Moscow's military.   

Among the weapons Kim showed the visiting Russian delegation was North Korea's solid-fueled Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a nuclear-capable missile that can deliver warheads to targets thousands of miles away and which represents a notable achievement for North Korea's weapons development program.

Solid-fueled weapons tend to be a greater threat than liquid-fueled systems because they can be fueled ahead of time and then launched without any warning. Liquid-propellant missiles, meanwhile, can only be fueled safely right before launch in an upright position. This creates a time-consuming and intense logistical process, which can leave the weapons vulnerable to preemptive attacks since they're openly visible for longer.   

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile during a military parade on Thursday. 

Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

Pyongyang first unveiled the design for the Hwasong-18 at a February parade marking 75 years since the country's army war was founded, and it has now tested the missile twice, with the most recent test taking place earlier this month. Though earlier ICBMs were liquid-fueled, work in recent years has indicated a pivot toward the use of solid-fueled systems.

North Korea has not conducted a nuclear test since 2017 but remains determined to stand among the world's nuclear powers, despite widespread international pressure and concern. Testing has been more focused on delivery systems as opposed to warheads though.

"The United States strongly condemns the DPRK for its test of a long-range ballistic missile," the White House said in a statement after the July test, referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"This launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region," the White House added. "This action demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people."

North Korea rocket launch fizzles....

Northcom Acknowledges North Korean Missile Launch, Failure

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 12, 2012 – North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials acknowledged today that U.S. systems detected and tracked a launch of a North Korean TaepoDong-2 missile at 6:39 p.m. EDT.
The missile was tracked on a southerly launch over the Yellow Sea, according to a statement issued from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
Initial indications are that the missile’s first stage fell into the sea 102.5 miles west of Seoul, South Korea, the statement says. The other two stages were assessed to have failed and no debris fell on land, it says.
“At no time were the missile or resulting debris a threat,” it says.
“Despite the failure of its attempted missile launch,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement tonight, “North Korea’s provocative action threatens regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent commitments.”
The action is not surprising given North Korea’s pattern of aggressive behavior, he added, but any missile activity by North Korea is of concern to the international community.
“The United States remains vigi

North Korea attack South Korea if Iran is attacked?

The hermit kingdom is strange anyway and with the new gargoyle trying to make a name for himself and solidify his powerbase with the elite of the north from the generals and other government officials.  With Iran and North korea both having exchanged information and I am sure that the North has been "assisting" Iran with their nuclear ambitions.  

     I got this from here

Will N. Korea Attack S. Korea if US Attacks Iran?

A so-called unthinkable question: Will North Korea attack South Korea--and U.S. troops in the South--if the United States attacks Iran over its nuclear program? (Really, this is a matter of when, not if, as decades of Western appeasement of Iran seem to have made war inevitable.)

The answer is probably not. But the possibility of North Korea seeking to exploit an opportunity to defeat the South should be addressed given the following: North Korea's intense hatred of South Korea; the North's dire economic straits, long history of engaging in criminal activities for money, and unique partnership in nuclear and missile crimes with oil-rich Iran, which is believed to have subsidized the North's nuclear and missile tests, and is also believed to be prepared to pay handsomely for strategic North Korean assistance in the event of an Iranian showdown with the West; a conviction on the part of the North Korean military that it could actually win a new Korean war; a related perception on the part of both North Korea and Iran that the U.S., which is still bogged down in Afghanistan, clearly lacks the resources and the political will to fight three wars, or two wars with heavy losses, even for a short period of time, or, perhaps, even, one protracted conflict involving large-scale casualties, following the Vietnam and Iraq debacles; and, last but not least, the North's lips-and-teeth relationship with China, which is strongly opposed to U.S. military action against Iran and infuriated by the Obama administration's declared new geo-strategic focus on the Asia-Pacific region--a U.S. policy shift that Beijing regards as inherently menacing.

That doesn't mean that China would-- or could--order North Korea to come to Iran's aid by attacking South Korea and the approximately 28,000 U.S. troops stationed there. However, there may be hardline elements in Beijing who would very much like to see the U.S. dealt a severe blow--some of these figures actually applauded the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC--and, with that aim in mind, might be willing to back North Korea up militarily if it plunges into an all-out conflict with Seoul and its superpower ally, provided the North refrains from attacking the South and its (sitting duck?) defenders with chemical and nuclear weapons, the use of which could trigger a U.S. nuclear response with consequences too terrible for even the hardest line and most nationalistic and anti-American--but presumably still sane--Chinese generals to contemplate.

Considering all of the above and the fact that Russia has warned Washington in no uncertain terms against attacking Iran, making clear that Moscow would view an armed intervention in its neighbor as a threat to Russian interests, and that U.S.-Russia relations are at an all-time, post-Cold War low point; that Iran has vowed to destroy Israel if it attacks Iran, and to attack the U.S. if it or Israel attacks or appears to be close to attacking Iran; that Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, are bristling with ballistic missiles capable of leveling Israel's civilian population centers--and that Israel is believed to possess one of the world's most formidable nuclear arsenals--the potential for war in the Greater Middle East widening into a global conflict, though thankfully still remote, cannot be dismissed as mere fantasy or pointless speculation.

Time and again, history has shown that the unthinkable can happen.