Fighter Fleet Revolution: North Korean Air Force Gets First Modern Air-to-Air Missiles

The Korean People’s Army Air Force has for the first time received active radar guided air-to-air missiles, with these seen integrated onto a MiG-29 squadron and test fired. The service’s MiG-29s, which were procured from the Soviet Union in the 1980s and subsequently produced under licence domestically in the 1990s, previously equipped only with relatively obsolete R-27 semi-active guided missiles for beyond visual range air-to-air combat. Although cutting edge when introduced in the early 1980s, Cold War era variants of the R-27 are considered several generations behind the most capable modern missiles such as the Chinese PL-15 or American AIM-260. North Korea’s new air-to-air missile class appears to benefit from active radar guidance, and closely resembles modern missile classes in service abroad such as the PL-15. The missile class was first unveiled at the National Defence Development Exhibition&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/yrEGqIPtl7s?t=2092">Self Defence 2021</a>&nbsp;in October 2021, and could potentially be integrated onto the country’s&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/nkorea-last-major-mig23-operator-how-capable">MiG-23ML</a>&nbsp;and MiG-21bis fighters alongside its MiG-29s. The sophistication of North Korea’s surface-to-air missile classes, as demonstrated by tests of systems such&nbsp;as the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/north-korea-test-firing-s400-similar-air-defence" target="_blank">Pyongae-6</a>,&nbsp;provide an important indication that many of the technologies needed for an advanced long range air-to-air missile class are already at mature stages.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/17/article_6828b08c51e427_17118875.jpeg" title="North Korean Leadership with MiG-29, Su-25 and New Missile">The ageing sensors on North Korea’s existing fighters has raised the possibility that the new missile class is intended to use targeting data from the country’s much more advanced ground based air defence radars and from its large&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/nkorea-new-aewc-flying-radar-fighter-fleet-plans">AEW&amp;C ‘flying radar’ aircraft</a>&nbsp;that was completed earlier in 2025. The integration of a new class of air-to-air missile into service is particularly significant as the possibility has grown that North Korea will procure more fighter aircraft from Russia, with modernised MiG-29s and possibly Su-57 fifth generation fighters though to be among the most likely to be transferred. The commissioning of fighters with modern electronically scanned array radars would allow the fleet to make fuller use of new long range radar guided missile classes. Modernised MiG-29s can not only benefit from newly developed more efficient RD-33 series 3 engines and expanded fuel carrying capacities, but also glass cockpits, and either the widely used Zhuk-ME PESA radar or the newer Zhuk-A/AM AESA radar. These upgrades make them far more suitable for beyond visual range combat in the 2020s. Enhanced MiG-29s also integrate helmet mounted sights, which could allow them to make effective use of North Korea’s new short range air-to-air missile class, which was also unveiled in October 2021.&nbsp;