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Is North Korea Using Israeli Technology in New Weapons System?
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un visit the Vostochny Сosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Sept. 13, 2023. Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via REUTERS
The air force of North Korea (DPRKAF) has not added new aircraft to its aging inventory for many years.
Part of its force was three Ilyushin IL-76MD transport aircraft (serials P-912 to P-914), acquired from Russia in the mid- to late 1990s, that were intended for medium-range transport of manpower and cargo as well as paradropping. The aircraft, like all large transport aircraft of the DPRKAF, carries the livery and titles of Air-Koryo, the national airline. The national airline and the country’s air force operate as one single entity.
In October 2023, after a long period of disuse, one of North Korea’s three IL-76MDs was towed from Pyongyang/Sunan airport, where it was housed alongside other dormant aircraft of Air-Koryo (the North Korean airline company). The aircraft was brought inside a hangar and the area around it was fenced. Work then commenced on the aircraft inside the hangar.
In February 2025, a satellite image showed the aircraft parked within the fenced area with what looked like an installation on top intended for mounting an early-warning radar dish. Inside the adjacent hangar, the tail of a second IL-76MD could be seen, suggesting that the entire IL-76MD fleet might be undergoing the same process.
Within three months, local technical crews, possibly under the supervision of Chinese advisors, mounted an early-warning radome on top of the aircraft. A month later, an image of the same location published by 38north.org showed the aircraft at the same fenced area with the radar dish installed. A comparison of the installation with that done on Chinese IL-76 aircraft shows distinctive similarities.
China first attempted to obtain an IL-76 based AWACS platform in 1997, when Russia agreed to sell four such aircraft to the PRC air force. While these were originally standard IL-76A transport models, the aircraft were to be modified by the Israeli firm ELTA at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) facility at Ben-Gurion Airport — with the addition of an ELTA-developed Phalcon AEW suite.
The first aircraft, bearing Russian registration RA-78740, arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in October 1999. Work was completed in early 2002, but the Bush administration refused to permit its sale to China so as to prevent its potential use against Taiwan. Israel was forced to cancel the project.
Following the imposition of sanctions by the US, the PRC government decided to continue the project locally. The first aircraft, now bearing Chinese military serial number 762, was modified successfully and integrated into No. 34 division at Nanjing. The other three aircraft were later completed as AWACS platforms, now designated KJ-2000. In June 2006, one of the four aircraft crashed in a rural area of eastern China.
Why would North Korea need an AWACS/AEW platform?
The DPRK national security perception sees a potential threat posed by three enemy countries: the United States, South Korea, and Japan. Its air defense system consists of outdated radar stations supplied by the Soviet Union and the PRC. These ground-based radar stations provide only a partial picture of the enemy and are prone to electronic warfare disruptions.
The airborne IL-76 AWACS/AEW platform, when flown at altitudes of 8,000-10,000 feet or higher, can provide a wide and clutter-free picture of the airspace around the DPRK, particularly when looking towards South Korea and Japan. It can detect incoming aircraft and gather intelligence on army movements on the ground, as well as on the disposition of naval assets in the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan (East Sea). It can also provide continuous radar coverage if ground-based stations are destroyed or incapacitated.
Unlike ground-based radar stations, the aircraft has a long range (estimated at 200 nautical miles), so its early warning capabilities can bolster the collection of tactical data. The aircraft has no self-defense capability and is thus easy prey to combat aircraft. Maintaining constant coverage of the ground and airspace would require at least two aircraft operating in rotation. Given that at least one of the two might spend time undergoing maintenance, or being grounded due to technical hiccups or a lack of spares, at least three aircraft will have to be modified for this role.
If the installation is based on the Chinese KJ2000, there is a good chance that Israeli know-how has reached the North Koreans indirectly.
Dr. Noam Hartoch (MA Security Studies, Tel Aviv University; PhD Mediterranean Studies, King’s College London) is an independent researcher. Dr. Alon Levkowitz is a senior lecturer in Asian Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
The post Is North Korea Using Israeli Technology in New Weapons System? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.