South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) says the airborne early warning and control aircraft that North Korea unveiled on Thursday appears to be extremely blunt and vulnerable to interception. 

JCS spokesperson Lee Sung-joon disclosed the assessment on Thursday, saying the aircraft needs a new evaluation to determine whether it can operate normally and effectively. 

Lee then said the aircraft’s internal parts and devices are likely linked to Russia and that the aircraft itself appears to be a remodeled version of a plane the North already had in its possession. 

Lee’s comment came after the North’s state Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said that its national leader, Kim Jong-un, supervised national defense science research projects Tuesday and Wednesday on unmanned aerial vehicle technology and detective electronic warfare.

With the report, the KCNA released photos of Kim aboard an airborne early warning and control aircraft issuing instructions to military officials inside the plane.