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Kim Jong-un inflames WW3 tensions as he exhibits off new warfare aircraft able to ‘wiping out’ enemies

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has been pictured inspecting the country’s new Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) war plane as it soars through the sky

Kim Jon-un premiered the war plane that he said will play a "significant role" in their military operations
Kim Jon-un premiered the war plane that he said will play a “significant role” in their military operations (Image: AFP)

North Korea has unveiled its new warplane in a series of images released by state media, showcasing the aircraft’s capabilities.

The photos feature dictator Kim Jong Un observing the Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, based on a Russian Il-76 Candid cargo plane, while it was airborne. Additional images show Kim inspecting the plane’s interior during a showcase at Pyongyang International Airport earlier this week.

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The aircraft is expected to “play a significant role in monitoring potential threats and gathering critical information,” Kim reportedly stated. At first glance, North Korea’s AEW&C, with its two-tone white and grey paint scheme and lack of visible markings, bears a striking resemblance to Russia’s A-50 Mainstay and China’s KJ-2000 Mainring.

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The plane appears modelled off Russian and Chinese aircrafts(Image: AFP)

However, unlike the A-50 and KJ-2000, the North Korean design appears to have a notable lack of antennas and protrusions typically associated with aircraft of this type, according to The War Zone.

The unveiling comes amid heightened tensions, with North Korea warning the US that its “war reinforcements” to Northeast Asia will be “contained and wiped out”. Meanwhile, Japan is preparing to deploy long-range missiles capable of hitting targets in Pyongyang and China.

The US Marine Corps recently deployed additional F-35B stealth fighter aircraft to Iwakuni, Japan, from Arizona on March 8. Pyongyang’s official news outlet, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), slammed the US last week, branding it a “hostile and confrontational entity.”

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The dictator inspected the militarised inside of the craft(Image: AFP)

KCNA said: “The additional deployment of offensive war reinforcements to cope with contingency in the Korean Peninsula is hourly increasing the unpredictability of actual armed conflict and a nuclear war.

“The U.S. anti-communist outposts…are within the constant sighting and striking range of the DPRK’s indefinite forces.

“Any war reinforcements of the U.S. will be completely contained and wiped out.”

The news outlet added: “The U.S. desperate moves of military adventurism aimed to create military imbalance and incite a new geopolitical conflict in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia provide [North Korea] with reasonable justification and the urgent need to give tougher warning of action.”

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State media spoke of the increased risk of nuclear war in the region (Image: AFP)

Meanwhile, President Trump has reaffirmed that one of his key goals is North Korean nuclear disarmament.

In related developments, Japan’s newly developed long-range missiles boast a range of about 1,000km, putting both China and North Korea within striking distance.

This comes as Kim Jong Un debuted new missiles and boasted over their ‘laudable combat performance’ as fears that countries are on the brink of World War 3 grow. North Korea conducted a test-fire of the latest anti-aircraft missile system on Thursday to examine the system’s performance.

Jong Un oversaw the test-fire with members of the North Korean military, and the test apparently proved that the new system was very quick and highly reliable.

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