North Korea Rapidly Enhancing Air Defences with New Surface-to-Air Missiles

The Korean People’s Army Missile General Bureau tested two newsurface-to-air missiles on August 23, with both fired against multiple targets to verify their capabilities, including against targets simulating the characteristics of drones and cruise missiles. The agency reported that the launches demonstrated the missiles’ superior responsiveness against various aerial threats, highlighting their unique operational and technical features. Photos released following he tests showed the missiles successfully hitting aerial targets. The tests were personally observed by senior figures from the ruling Korean Workers’ Party including Chairman Kim Jong Un, as well as by Air Force Commander Marshal Kim Kwang Hyok. It remains uncertain whether the missiles in question are entirely new designs, or improved variants of already existing models.

North Korea in the 1990s initiated the development of its first indigenous road mobile long range air defence system, although the highly complex nature of the system and the lack of prior experience developing such high end air defence assets meant it only entered service in 2017, under the designation Pyongae-5. The program reportedly benefitted from considerable technology transfers from Russia, namely those used in the S-300PM system. The Korean People’s Army subsequently unveiled the Pyongae-6 system in 2020, which is considered to have comparable capabilities to the Russian S-400 system, and has continued to be modernised with new missile classes.Missiles deployed by the system benefit from twin rudder controls and double impulse flight engines, with North Korean state media reporting the “rapid responsiveness and guidance accuracy of [the] missile control system,” as well as a “substantial increase in the distance of downing air targets,” likely when compared to the Pyongae-5.

Commenting on the rapid modernisation of the North Korean air defence network and its implications, leading expert on Korean security and author of the book Surviving the Unipolar Era: North Korea’s 35-Year Standoff with the United States, A. B. Abrams, observed in his recent work:

“The Pyongae-5 appeared to have been a stopgap until the more capable Pyongae-6 was completed, with the newer system’s development having been reported since the 2000s before its unveiling in October 2020. Widely compared to the Russian S-400, the system’s missiles used twin rudder control and double impulse flight engines demonstrating a high degree of sophistication, with state media reporting a “substantial increase in the distance of downing air targets” after a landmark test in October 2021. Further improvements were seen in the following years, including the flight testing of what appeared to be a new long range missile class in April 2024. Modernisation of air defences had significant strategic implications, providing the missile arsenal with considerably more time to launch in the event of an enemy attack by seriously complicating and having the ability to blunt U.S. and allied air and missile strikes.”

North Korean fielded one of the most capable air forces of any Western adversary state in the 1950s and 1960s, but saw the standing of its fighter fleet diminish from the late 1960s as relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated. The country has compensated by fielding one of the densest networks of modern ground based air defence systems in the world, which is uniquely heavily fortified. The country’s fighter capabilities have nevertheless also seen recent improvements, most notably the operationalisation of the country’s first class of indigenous air-to-air missile with active radar guidance capabilities in May 2025, and the operationalisation of the country’s first airborne early warning and control system a few months prior to provide support. The possibility has also grown that North Korea will procure more fighter aircraft from Russia, which would allow Moscow to cover the costs of some of the tens of billions of dollars worth of armaments it is procuring from its neighbour. The Su-57 fifth generation fighter is considered among the most likely to be procured, and even in small numbers could serve as a highly complementary force multiplier for ground-based air defence systems.