North Korea's new combat missile mimics the PL-10, with an aerodynamic layout almost identical, now the U.S. military can't sit still!

Recently, North Korea publicly displayed a new type of short-range air-to-air missile for the first time during a military exercise. Based on the publicly available footage and satellite images, the missile's shape, size, control surface layout, and even tail structure are highly similar to the PL-10.

The PL-10 is approximately 3 meters long, with a diameter of 160 millimeters and a wingspan of about 670 millimeters, adopting a large-chord canard layout—specifically, it features two large triangular canards at the front, four trapezoidal main wings in the middle, and a thrust vectoring nozzle at the rear for high-maneuverability flight.

The profile proportions of North Korea's new missile are almost identical. According to pixel calculations by open-source intelligence agencies based on the displayed footage, the length error of the missile body does not exceed ±5 centimeters, and the wing angle deviation is less than 2 degrees, which far surpasses the category of "inspired imitation."

A significant characteristic of the PL-10 is the integrated thrust vectoring nozzle at the rear, which gives it an instantaneous overload capability of over 60g, allowing for "over-the-shoulder launches" or rapid targeting in dogfights within visual range.

The rear of North Korea's new missile clearly shows a similar structure, and there are obvious outlines of gas deflection devices around the nozzle. Although there is no measured data to prove whether its TV performance meets standards, just based on its appearance, its intention to replicate the PL-10's high maneuverability is quite clear.

In the past, North Korea's air force was mainly equipped with R-60 and R-73 missiles from the 1980s, which had limited off-axis launch capabilities and found it difficult to pose a threat to U.S. F-16 or F/A-18 aircraft.

However, if their new missile truly possesses performance close to the PL-10—such as off-axis angles over 60 degrees, maneuverability over 50g, and an effective range of 5–20 kilometers—this would mean that North Korean aircraft would have the potential for "first strike and first hit" in visual range dogfights.

Especially in the complex electromagnetic environment of low altitudes on the peninsula, high-performance infrared combat missiles are harder to detect than radar-guided missiles.