Recently discovered North Korean drone made up of parts from various countries

Posted on : 2017-06-22 14:46 KST Modified on : 2017-06-22 14:46 KST
Defense Ministry announces that drone’s cruising distance was double that of drone found in 2014
A North Korean drone
A North Korean drone

A North Korean drone recently discovered in Inje, Gangwon Province, was assembled out of parts from a variety of countries, including South Korea, Japan, the Czech Republic, Canada, and the US. The Ministry of National Defense released findings on June 21 for its scientific examination of the drone.

“The engine was confirmed to be a ’50V2‘ (500cc, two-cylinder, two-stroke) made by the Czech Republic’s Rotomotor,” it said.

The autopilot board for controlling the flight by computer was an MP2028 made by Canada’s MicroPilot, while the communication module consisted of a GPS received made by Switzerland’s U-blox and a GPS antenna made by the US company Trimble. Six servo actuators by South Korea’s Hitec RCD were used, along with an R6208SB RC receiver by Japan’s Futaba for remote piloting and an A7R camera by Sony.

Most of the parts were found to be the same as those in a drone discovered on Baengnyeong Island in 2014.

“The latest drone had a fuel tank two times larger than the one of the Baengnyeong drone, and the cruising distance is believed to have doubled,” said Agency for Defense Development aviation technology research headquarters chief Kim Jong-seong, who announced the findings.

The drone was confirmed to have crashed on May 2 - more than a month before its discovery on June 9. The drone took off from North Korea‘s Kumgang County and flew 266 km to the THAAD deployment site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, before turning around and flying an additional 224 km until it crashed. The drone traveled at an altitude of 2.4 km and a speed of 90 km/hr.

The investigation found an engine malfunction to be the reason for the crash.

“Output did not match fuel supply, and as fuel consumption increased, the flight distance decreased,” Kim explained. The drone traveled for a total of 5 hours and 30 minutes and took 555 photographs.

While some have raised fears of a possible biochemical attack with drones, the threat was seen as minimal.

“While you could place 4 to 5 kg of chemical agent on a drone, it would be dispersed by the wind if deployed in midair, resulting in not much more than a burning sensation in the eyes,” explained a military official who attended the announcement.

“In the case of a suicide bombing, the region in question would be partially contaminated,” the official added.

The same official explained that while North Korea currently possesses 13 varieties of chemical agents, “all of them except for anthrax are destroyed by UV rays when exposed to the atmosphere.”

“As far as anthrax goes, only the US and Russia have the technology to weaponize it in spore form,” the official said, adding that there was “no evidence North Korea currently possesses that technology.”

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

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