North Korea turned the heads of military experts over the weekend when it released images of its first live-fire test of a new medium-range air-to-air missile, showing off a capability that not even the South’s advanced arms industry has managed to domestically produce.

The test of the new weapon represented a step toward modernizing the DPRK’s outdated air force and acquiring advanced capabilities needed to more aggressively counter U.S. and ROK aerial assets.

But experts say North Korea’s new weapon remains a generation behind those of its adversaries, despite its likely reliance on Russian technical assistance, emphasizing that the missile