North Korean state media has released images showing what appears to be large-scale production of attack drones resembling Israel’s Harop loitering munition. Photographs published by the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, show dozens of apparently similar unmanned aircraft inside defence-industrial facilities visited by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
KCNA released the photographs after Kim inspected a number of defence-industry enterprises from September 16 to 18. Among the aircraft visible in the production areas is a model with an aerodynamic design resembling the Israeli Harop. The state-media imagery indicates that multiple air vehicles of the same general type were present at the facilities, but it provides no independent information on their performance, guidance equipment, production output or operational status.
From initial unveiling to serial-production drive
North Korea first publicly revealed domestically developed drones of this general type in August 2024. At that time, state media showed tests involving several types of strike drone, including one with an external configuration similar to the Harop-like aircraft now seen in production imagery.
The following November, Kim ordered a transition to mass production of such strike drones. He described the systems as a key element of modern warfare and directed that a serial-production system be established as quickly as possible. The latest photographs are the clearest state-media indication to date that North Korea has moved beyond public demonstrations and is presenting the aircraft within a manufacturing setting.
Neither KCNA nor the report identifies the total number of drones completed, whether the air vehicles shown represent a single variant, or whether they have entered operational service. The available material also does not provide a confirmed North Korean designation for the Harop-like loitering munition.
Kumsong testing and mobile launch capability
The production display follows continued North Korean reporting on unmanned strike-system development. During 2025, North Korean state media reported tests of tactical strike drones from the Kumsong series. Kim has identified both artificial intelligence development and combat unmanned aerial vehicles as priorities in the modernization of the country’s military.
North Korea has also previously shown a self-propelled launcher associated with its Harop-like loitering munitions. The vehicle carries six transport-launch containers with drones, indicating a mobile launch arrangement for the system. The source does not disclose the launcher’s mobility characteristics, reload process, the number of vehicles produced or its relationship to the drones depicted in the latest factory photographs.
AI and wider defence-industrial directives
During the latest inspection of defence enterprises, Kim again called for wider use of artificial intelligence. His instructions also addressed conventional artillery: he ordered the modernization of artillery systems, increased automation and armour protection, and improvements to the production capabilities of defence-industry enterprises.
Our artillery must possess the most concentrated, destructive, large-scale, and versatile offensive capabilities and responsibly fulfill two tasks—deterring the enemy and waging war.
Kim Jong Un, as quoted by KCNA
Kim further stated that defence-industry enterprises should play a greater role in implementing North Korean development policy intended to strengthen the armed forces. He also instructed that production conditions at the country’s military factories be improved. The drone-production imagery and the accompanying directions place the Harop-like systems within a wider state-led effort to expand military manufacturing capacity while pursuing AI-enabled and combat unmanned technologies.
