How Pyongyang stole "flying eggs" from the AmericansUnlike the North Korean rocket industry, which has mastered combat missiles of almost all classes and even space launch vehicles, the aviation industry of the DPRK is in a rudimentary state.
Nevertheless, it exists. And it has some history, including the production of training aircraft of the Yak-18 type, the assembly of Mi-2 helicopters from Polish components and even attempts to produce combat drones. Basically, it is "sharpened" on the production of spare parts for existing machines and on the modification of the latter.
The enterprises of the North Korean aviation industry are mainly concentrated near the Pangyeon Air Base in Pyeongchang-Pukto province. Although there are other factories in other parts of the country.
Now the Air Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA), according to the Military Balance 2021 handbook, has a solid, albeit very outdated fleet. These are 80 front-line bombers and naval torpedo bombers of Chinese production H-5 (copies of Soviet Il-28, including reconnaissance and training). Several antique MiG-15bis fighters, 107 units of Chinese J-5 (MiG-17F), 100 J-6 (MiG-19), 120 J-7 (MiG-21F-13). Some MiG-21PFM, 30 MiG-21bis, 46 MiG-23ML, 10 MiG-23P, about 18 MiG-29A, -29C and-29UB, as well as 34 Su-25K attack aircraft (including two-seat training Su-25UBK). There are 18 Su-7B fighter-bombers and, possibly, Q-5 attack aircraft (the Chinese strike version of the MiG-19) in storage.
The basis of the combat power of the DPRK Air Force is the Chinese J-5, J-6 and J-7 and aircraft supplied by the USSR, of which the most valuable are the MiG-21bis, MiG-23, MiG-29 and Su-25. They try to handle them very carefully here. As for the MiG-15bis, they, in particular, are flown by female pilots trained as kamikazes - "to give everything to the Motherland, to be a bullet and a bomb."
To combat an aerial enemy, the KPA Air Force has an impressive arsenal of Soviet–made guided air-to-air missiles RS-2US, R-3S with infrared homing, R-23, R-24, R-60, R-27 and R-73. And also of Chinese production – "Pi Li-2", "Pi Li-5" (analogs of the Soviet P-3 and the American Sidewinder) and "Pi Li-7" (analog of the French rocket "Magik" R.550). Presumably, the rocket builders of the DPRK managed to establish their own production of the P-3, Pi Li-2 and Pi Li-5.
Against ground and surface targets along with unguided missiles (caliber 57, 80, 90, 122, 130, 134, 240 and 340 mm Soviet and Chinese samples) and conventional bombs (caliber 50, 100, 250, 500, 1500 and 3000 kg – the last two types for H-5/Il-28) precision weapons can also be used, although on a limited scale. Its list includes tactical guided air–to-ground missiles of Soviet origin X-23, X-25 and X-29L. But not only that: the achievement of the North Korean defense industry was the creation in the 2010s, based on Chinese technologies, of a 250-kg adjustable planning aerial bomb, known in the West as the AGP-250. As well as equipping part of the H-5 bombers with a tactical anti-ship cruise missile "Kymson-3" (an analogue of the Russian X-35).
The DPRK Air Force (which includes naval aviation) is still armed with RAT-52 jet aircraft torpedoes, which in the 1950s were equipped with Soviet Navy Il-28T and Tu-14T torpedo bombers. However, on the North Korean torpedo bombers H-5T (Il-28T), these products are used in the Chinese version – Yu-2.
The country's military transport aviation (VTA) includes three heavy Il-76TD aircraft, two passenger Il-62M (personal vehicles of Kim Jong-un) and up to 200 light An-2 and their Chinese copies Y-5. The training aviation consists of 180 aircraft of the initial flight training of the Yak-18 and their Chinese modification CJ-6, 35 Chinese training fighters JJ-2 (MiG-15UTI) and several MiG-21U and-21UM.
The current reserve of the BTA is the civil airline Air Kore, which has passenger aircraft An-24, An-148, Il-18, Il-62, Tu-134, Tu-154 and Tu-204, Mi-8, Mi-17 and Ka-32 helicopters. Organizationally, Air Kore is part of the Air Force, forming a separate special-purpose aviation regiment.
North Korean helicopter pilots fly light multi–purpose helicopters - American Hughes-500D and -500E (80 pieces, obtained by smuggling), Soviet-Polish Mi-2 (139, including self-assembled vehicles "Hyexin-2"), heavy transport Mi-26 (four), medium multi-purpose Mi-8 and Mi-17 (15 in total), as well as Mi-4A (48 – most likely only their Chinese copies of the Z-5 "Xiangfeng" remained in service). The Mi-24D combat helicopters previously mentioned in the DPRK Air Force are now not taken into account by Western experts. The previously discussed information about the acquisition of 47 such machines by the North Koreans did not seem to correspond to reality.
Hughes-500, Mi-2 and Mi-4/Z-5 helicopters are used as combat helicopters, armed with their own anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) 9M14 of the Malyutka complex (which is produced in the DPRK under the name "Suson-pho") Hughes-500 helicopters are also equipped with the Bulsazhyo-2 ATGM – these are the 9M111 missiles of the Fagot complex produced in the DPRK.
In the interests of the DPRK Navy, the Mi-14PLE shore-based anti-submarine helicopters (amphibians), once supplied by the USSR, can be used, as well as Soviet Ka-28s purchased from Cuba in small quantities (an export version of the Ka-27 ship helicopter). But their operational status is not clear – perhaps they are in storage.
Attempts to establish the production of its own combat aircraft have been made by the DPRK since the 1970s. One of them ended with the creation on the basis of the Yak-18 of a two-seat light attack aircraft of the Il-10 type (further development of the Il-2), which was in service with the DPRK Air Force by the beginning of the Korean War (1950-1953). The aircraft looked similar to the IL-10, but was equipped with a less powerful engine, although it repeated its built-in armament. It was also an anachronism: a 12.7 mm machine gun in the rear of the cockpit, two winged 23 mm guns and two winged 7.62 mm machine guns. Two 100-kg bombs could be suspended under the wings – this is six or seven times less than the Il-10 bomb load. But this attack aircraft remained a "pen breakdown".
The next stage dates back to the 1980s, but it also turned out to be anachronistic. The DPRK aviation industry has built a small (four pieces or a little more) a series of two-seat twin-engine training aircraft of the type of the Soviet Yak-6. It was equipped with two 300-horsepower AI-14RF piston engines used on the training Yak-18, the Yak-12 messenger and the An-14 staff. The North Koreans even mounted a radar bomb sight on their car. The plane was suitable for training, but in no way could it be considered an achievement.
Realizing the futility of such attempts, the North Korean leadership focused on the licensed release of foreign aircraft models (taking into account the experience of producing Yak-18 training aircraft and assembling Mi-2 helicopters). They liked the Romanian machines – light multipurpose helicopters IAR-316B (produced under the French license "Alouette-III") and subsonic fighter-bombers IAR-93 (created jointly with Yugoslavia). The IAR-93 looked like an alternative to the outdated MiG-15 and MiG-17. But the deal, planned in the mid-1980s, never took place. Western technologies were used in both cars, and this was fraught with a big scandal for Bucharest with the participation of the French and the British (licensed copies of Rolls-Royce Viper engines were on the IAR-93).
But the USSR agreed to grant Pyongyang the right to assemble a front-line MiG-29 fighter of the 9-13 series (in addition to Soviet supplies of the MiG-29 of this series, as well as the 9-12 series). But the North Koreans managed to assemble only three MiG-29s until 1993: with the collapse of the USSR, the supply of components quickly stopped.
But the DPRK's acquisition of American Hughes-500 helicopters, known as the "Flying Egg" (because of the characteristic shape of the fuselage), is worthy of a movie thriller. The DPRK smuggled 66 such MD-500E and 20 MD-500D helicopters (plus one Schweizer 300C training helicopter) in 1985. Further deliveries stopped after the intervention of the United States, enraged by the deal successfully executed by the North Korean special services. A curious point was that the helicopters were assembled in the United States from parts manufactured under license in South Korea. The "flying eggs" were delivered to the DPRK with the help of a West German export company. The North Koreans received them in a civilian version, but they easily armed Soviet-style ATGMs. Usually such a Hughes-500 carried four ATGMs (two of the "Bassoon" type and two of the "Baby" type) and a 30-mm automatic grenade launcher of the type of our AGS-17 in a ventral installation – quite serious weapons. Today, part of the Hughes-500 of the DPRK Air Force can no longer take to the air due to wear and is used as a source of spare parts.
The story of the "flying eggs" is not the only one. In 1998, the Koreans tried to buy MiG-21bis fighters in Kazakhstan, and again illegally. American intelligence got wind of this, and Washington imposed sanctions on the Kazakh Metalist plant in Uralsk and the Czech private firm Agroplast, which acted as an intermediary in the delivery of aircraft to the DPRK. The threat of sanctions loomed over the government of Kazakhstan, and it, pretty scared, admitted to Washington that the deal had taken place.
In 1999, a new scandal broke out. An AN-124 Ruslan heavy transport plane was detained at Baku airport, on board of which six MiG-21bis with a set of spare parts were in disassembled condition. The Government of Kazakhstan had to admit to a deal for the supply of 40 such machines to the DPRK, of which 34 have already been delivered by five Ruslan flights. Azerbaijan confiscated the last six fighters in its favor.
The most intriguing point is the presence of a special top–secret air squadron in the DPRK Air Force, which has American combat aircraft - tactical fighters F-5A Freedom Fighter (or even F-5E Tiger) and F-4 Phantom, as well as light attack aircraft A-37 Dragonfly. The DPRK probably received these planes from Iran and Vietnam.
In addition, the DPRK also managed to smuggle (possibly from Egypt) American unmanned target aircraft MQM-107D "Stricker". They were adapted in the KPA as ground-to–ground projectile aircraft launched from ZiL-130 launch units transported by truck. According to Western experts, the DPRK has also mastered its own production of the Stricker analog, and with the use of French TRI 60-2 turbojet engines (used on a number of Western drones and Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles).
In addition, the North Koreans managed to establish the production of simple and reliable piston machines: the An-2 cornhuskers and light multipurpose American Cessna-172 Skyhawk aircraft (Mathias Rust landed on this in 1987 on Red Square). However, it is possible that the Cessnas are assembled from components obtained by the DPRK from somewhere.
The DPRK leadership is looking for ways to legally acquire airplanes and helicopters. But the position of the "rogue state" does not favor this. So, in 2010, Kim Jong Il personally asked Chinese comrades for the supply of the latest J-10 fighters (the development of the Israeli Lavi fighter with Russian engines), but was refused. These attempts were continued by Kim Jong-un already in relation to Russian Su-30 and Su-35 fighters, as well as Chinese JH-7 fighter-bombers. But again unsuccessfully.
Against this background, the DPRK's efforts to turn the Yak-18, Yak-18A, their Chinese counterparts CJ-6 and even the An-2 biplanes (in the Chinese version - Y–5) into combat vehicles look interesting. The Yak-18 and CJ-6 are used as light attack aircraft, armed with 100-kg aerial bombs and blocks of 57-mm Soviet-designed unguided S-5 missiles. The CJ-6 can carry 16 C-5 in two eight-shot blocks of the Soviet ORO-57K type and two high-explosive bombs of the Soviet FAB-100 type. Military transport AN-2 converted into light night bombers. The vehicles, which are barely noticeable for enemy radar, have four underwing suspension units for missile and bomb weapons. The armed AN-2 can carry two five-shot blocks of 122-mm unguided Soviet-style S-13 missiles or four 100-kg aerial bombs. For use from low altitudes, it was possible to equip such aircraft with radar stations following the terrain and advanced air navigation and communication systems. The same radar is installed on some front-line H-5 bombers.
It is impossible not to mention such an improvisation as a radar patrol aircraft based on the passenger AN-24. The NO19 radar removed from the MiG-29 was installed on it. It seems that the decision was not quite successful, and this "AN-24RLDN" is not used in the DPRK Air Force today. As they say, the goal of fiction is tricky. But the tricks of North Korean aviation engineers arouse involuntary respect.
Konstantin ChuprinKonstantin Nikolaevich Chuprin is a journalist.
