Comparison chart of the three North Korean drone types shown on the production lines in September 2026

North Korea Shows Its Drone Production Lines, Not Just Its Drones

by Tamika Johnson | Sep 19, 2026 | Aviazione militare, Notizia | 0 comments

North Korea does not usually show you the factory. It shows you the parade, the launch, the finished missile on the transporter, and then the cameras go away. So when Rodong Sinmun published photographs on Saturday of Kim Jong Un walking through drone assembly halls, the interesting part was not the drones. It was the assembly halls.

Kim toured what state media called important munitions industry enterprises between 16 and 18 September. The images showed production lines for at least three types, including the two large Saetbyol drones and a one-way attack drone whose name has still not been given. Dozens of small flying-wing airframes sat on stands in one hall.

Pyongyang has been showing off drones since 2023. Showing off the means of making them in quantity is new.

Informazioni rapide

Quello che è successo: Kim Jong Un toured munitions plants from 16 to 18 September 2026; Rodong Sinmun published the images on 19 September
Types shown: Saetbyol-4, Saetbyol-9 and a one-way attack drone
Saetbyol-4: strategic reconnaissance, wingspan around 35 m, jet powered, built to resemble the RQ-4 Global Hawk
Saetbyol-9: multi-purpose combat drone, wingspan around 20 m, propeller driven, three pylons under each wing, resembles the MQ-9 Reaper
Attack drone: resembles the Israeli Harop family; six per launch vehicle
Not disclosed: factory locations, production quantities, performance figures
Kim’s instructions: more artificial intelligence in weapons, more automation in artillery

The Copies Are Not Subtle

The Saetbyol-4, or Morning Star 4, is a strategic reconnaissance aircraft with a wingspan of around 35 metres. It is jet powered, and it is unmistakably modelled on the American RQ-4 Global Hawk. Analysts have noted that its landing gear and the rear end of its engine look like they came off a MiG-21, a type the Korean People’s Army Air Force has operated for decades.

The Saetbyol-9 is the smaller of the pair at roughly 20 metres, propeller driven, with three weapon pylons under each wing. State media calls it a multi-purpose combat drone, which is the same job description as the MQ-9 Reaper it resembles. Korean Central Television has shown it firing a missile.

The third type is the one to watch. It is a loitering munition, visually close to the Israeli Harop family, and its launch vehicle made its public debut at the night-time parade on 10 October 2025 marking the Workers’ Party 80th anniversary. Four 6x6 trucks rolled past, each carrying two stacked rows of three launch containers. Six drones a truck.

Timeline of publicly documented North Korean unmanned aircraft developments from 2011 to 2026 — Fifteen years of publicly documented North Korean drone activity, from bought-in American target drones to domestic production lines. (Chart: Afterburner, MiGFlug’s Magazine)

It Started With Somebody Else’s Target Drones

The programme is older than the Saetbyol pair suggests. Yonhap reported in February 2012 that North Korea had bought several American-built MQM-107D Streaker target drones a year earlier, apparently through Syria. The MQM-107D entered US service in 1987. It is a towed-target machine, not a weapon, but it is a flying machine with an engine and a guidance system, and that is where these things start.

In 2014 several North Korean drones were found crashed in South Korea near the border. They were basic fixed-wing types, some apparently Chinese, carrying digital still cameras and flying pre-programmed routes. Crude, but they got across.

Then in July 2023 Kim guided Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu through a Pyongyang weapons exhibition where the Saetbyol-4 and Saetbyol-9 were on display, and the copies were suddenly real aircraft.

What We Still Do Not Know

Everything that matters. North Korea has not disclosed the factory locations, the production quantities, or any performance figure for the attack drone. There is no published range, no payload, no guidance description. State television has shown the big drones flying and one of them shooting, but nothing about the accuracy of that shot. Coverage of the smaller drones has been restricted to still photographs, which is what Pyongyang does when it does not want you looking too closely.

It would be easy to conclude the whole thing is theatre. The analyst community has been careful not to.

“But, while we know little about the current capabilities of the drones, it would be a mistake to assume the program is all for show. North Korea has demonstrated an ability to develop and refine weapons systems so what might not be possible now could easily be possible in the future.”

Martyn Williams — Analyst, 38 North, a publication of the Stimson Center, 25 September 2025

The AI Instruction

Alongside the drone halls, NK News reported that Kim used the tour to direct officials to raise the level of artificial intelligence used in both offensive and defensive weapons, increase automation in artillery systems and improve their armour. The same week he visited a plant producing a mobile rocket launcher that analysts compare to the American HIMARS.

North Korea has spent two years watching drones decide engagements in Ukraine, with its own troops deployed alongside Russian forces. The lesson being absorbed is not that drones are useful. Everyone knows that. The lesson is that drones only matter if you can build them by the thousand.

Which is why the photographs published on Saturday were of a factory floor, and not of a parade.

Sources: Rodong Sinmun via Defence Blog; NK News; 38 North (Stimson Center); Yonhap News; Korean Central Television.

Domande frequenti

What did North Korea reveal in September 2026?

State media published images of drone production lines during a tour of munitions plants by Kim Jong Un between 16 and 18 September 2026. Rodong Sinmun ran the report on 19 September. At least three types were visible, including the Saetbyol-4, the Saetbyol-9 and a one-way attack drone.

What is the Saetbyol-4?

A strategic reconnaissance drone with a wingspan of roughly 35 metres, powered by a jet engine. It is clearly built to resemble the American RQ-4 Global Hawk. It first appeared publicly at the Pyongyang weapons exhibition in July 2023, and analysts have noted that its landing gear and the rear of its engine resemble those of the MiG-21.

What is the Saetbyol-9?

A multi-purpose combat drone with a wingspan of about 20 metres, propeller driven, with three weapon pylons under each wing. It resembles the American MQ-9 Reaper and has been shown on North Korean television firing a missile. At least six airframes appear to have been built.

What is the North Korean one-way attack drone?

A loitering munition whose name has not been disclosed. It is visually similar to the Israeli Harop family. Its dedicated launch vehicle appeared at the night-time military parade of 10 October 2025, marking the Workers’ Party 80th anniversary: four 6x6 trucks, each carrying two stacked rows of three launch containers, or six drones per vehicle.

How capable are North Korea’s drones really?

Nobody outside North Korea knows. State media has shown the large drones flying and one firing a missile, but nothing about their flight and guidance systems, range or payload has been published, and coverage of the smaller drones has been limited to still images. That is deliberate.

Where are North Korea’s drones built?

The programme is centred on Panghyon Airfield, about 110 kilometres north-west of Pyongyang and 60 kilometres from the Chinese border, which state media calls the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complex. Seven new hangars were added there in 2024 and a fabrication hall roughly 225 metres long has been under construction at the adjacent aircraft factory.

How long has North Korea been flying drones?

Since at least 2011, when it reportedly bought several American-made MQM-107D target drones through a Middle Eastern country. In 2014 several crude North Korean drones carrying digital cameras were found crashed in South Korea. The modern programme dates from the Saetbyol pair unveiled in July 2023.