조기경보기 거의 완성단계에 이른 북한의 조기경보기

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When Computers Went To Sea | 북한이 Il-76을 조기경보기로 개조중인 것이 확인됨 - Daum 카페

북한이 Il-76을 조기경보기로 개조중인 것이 확인됨

3월 3일 민간위성사진에 북한 순안공항에서 개조작업중인 북한의 조기경보기가 찍혔습니다. 레이돔이 기체에 부착된 걸 보니 거의 완성단계인 듯 합니다. 

원형의 레이돔에 삼각형으로 도색이 돼 있는데, 비회전식 레이돔에 120도 범위를 커버하는 레이다 3개를 붙여  것은 중국식 방식이라고 하네요. 이 기체가 중국식 방식을 채택한 것인지는 아직 불확실합니다. 

Quick Take: First Look at North Korea’s Airborne Early Warning Aircraft - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea

Quick Take: First Look at North Korea’s Airborne Early Warning Aircraft

• By: Martyn Williams and Iliana Ragnone
• March 4, 2025
• Military Affairs, Satellite Imagery

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North Korea appears close to completing its first airborne early warning aircraft (AEW)—a significant upgrade for an air force that has not seen new airborne capabilities in years.

Commercial satellite imagery shows an Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft parked alongside a maintenance hangar at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport, with a large radome mounted on top of the fuselage.

Figure 1. Imagery from March 3, 2025 indicates a radome has been mounted on top of an IL-76 fuselage. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2025. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.

The radome has a distinctive triangle design on top, similar to what is seen on some Chinese AEW aircraft, but not used on US or Russian aircraft. For Chinese aircraft, the triangle signifies the placement of three non-rotating phased array radars arranged to cover 120-degree sectors. This could indicate support or influence from China, although the triangle alone is not conclusive proof.

Timeline

The aircraft was one of three IL-76s previously used by North Korea’s national airline, Air Koryo, on cargo routes. It was moved into the maintenance facility in October 2023, and almost immediately thereafter a security fence was erected around the aircraft.

In November 2023, work began in a section on top of the fuselage. Conversion to an AEW was suspected, but had not been confirmed until now.

Work continued throughout 2024 and in November the aircraft—without the radome—was moved into the adjacent hangar. It remained there until late February 2025, when it appeared outside the hangar with the radome mounted.

To date, North Korean state media has not disclosed the project.

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원천 기술은 이스라엘제, 제조국은 중국제인 삼각김밥 레이더가 등짝에 떡하니 올라가 있네요.