North Korea appears to be converting a large cargo plane into an airborne warning system for use during missile tests or to help detect enemy missiles in a crisis, newly released expert findings show.

An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane has recently appeared next to a maintenance hangar at Pyongyang International Airport with a large object newly affixed to the top of its fuselage, according to analysis of satellite imagery by Decker Eveleth, graduate research assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Eveleth concluded that the object is possibly a mount for a rotodome (rotating radar dome), part of a conversion to turn the plane into an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) or airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft.

“An AEW system capable of detecting cruise missiles seems like something the DPRK would definitely be interested in,” Eveleth told NK Pro.

“You’d theoretically put [the plane in the air] in a crisis and have it run a figure eight over the DPRK looking for incoming cruise munitions. I don’t think the platform is going to be doing any frequent or daily missions — if they’re doing AEW it would be a special occasions thing.”

Eveleth said Pyongyang could also use the plane “for tracking their own missile tests” like Russia, who uses Il-76-based Beriev A-50 AWACS aircraft during Burevestnik cruise missile tests.

“Notably, the Russians apparently dismantled some of their missile telemetry aircraft recently, so it’s likely they have parts for them lying around,” he added, suggesting they would be available to North Korea while adding that direct evidence of such an exchange has not emerged.

The two countries started a new shipping operation in late August involving Russian cargo ships and a Russian military port, and the U.S. has accused the two of trading unspecified “military equipment and munitions” through the route.

Russia has also refused to comment on multiple trips to Pyongyang by air force passenger planes in recent months, possibly carrying delegations related to discussing cooperation and weapons or equipment exchanges.

Joseph Dempsey, research associate with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told NK Pro it’s more likely an AEW than AWACS conversion, explaining that it’s less likely North Korea has “the capacity to integrate any direct data links to fighter aircraft” for the “control” aspect of such an aircraft.

He also pointed out that the North’s three Il-76s represent “the entirety of their heavy lift capability,” raising questions over whether the others will be converted.

However, Tarao Goo, an analyst with the Oryx and Deep Dive military blogs, told NK Pro that “if North Korea really wants to operate AEW aircraft, it will need at least two” to account for times when one undergoes maintenance.

“North Korea’s possession of AEW aircraft would greatly augment its air defense network, which consists of existing radar sites that are outdated and fixed in location,” he said.

“If this image is indeed a refurbishment of Il-76, it is evidence that they are in the process of modernizing their air force.”

NK Pro analysis of Planet Labs imagery confirms the installation of the object on the Il-76 in November, and that the project could have started in late September when construction began on a barrier around the plane’s parking spot.

Only one of North Korea’s three known Il-76s appears to have been outfitted with the new equipment. 

The other two have appeared at the maintenance hangar next to the converted plane’s parking spot in recent months, but both were parked in the open on an apron across from the airport’s main terminal as of Dec. 13.

All three Il-76s have been sporting national carrier Air Koryo liveries in recent years.

However, the DPRK military demonstrated its domain over the airline’s cargo aircraft in the past, repainting them with military camouflage and Korean People’s Army (KPA) emblems for a military parade in 2013 and using them for paratrooper training operations that appeared in a propaganda video released the following year.

The U.S. cited their participation in the military parade when it decided to sanction Air Koryo in 2016, as well as media reports that Air Koryo planes were used to transport “spare parts or items used in Scud-B missile systems.”

To boost its intelligence on U.S. and South Korean military activities, North Korea also successfully placed its first military spy satellite in orbit last month and unveiled a new high-altitude reconnaissance drone in July, though questions remain over the true capabilities of each system.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un referred to “other means of reconnaissance” and “detection” when outlining his five-year military development plan in Jan. 2021, possibly pointing to additional types of aircraft besides drones, like the Il-76 conversion.

The most recent confirmed flight by one of North Korea’s Il-76s was in March, according to NK Pro analysis, when one flew to the northern city of Samjiyon, possibly to deliver aid materials following severe snowfall. 

All three also flew together to Shenyang, China in May 2022, reportedly to pick up COVID-19-related supplies or medicines. They were kept in isolation for almost two months on the northern runway of the Pyongyang airport upon their return as part of epidemic control policies.

The Pyongyang airport also recently expanded a parking apron near the terminal, possibly in preparation for acquiring new passenger or military planes.

Edited by Bryan Betts

Updated on Dec. 18 at 11:35 a.m. with additional expert comments