In a previous blog post, the author talked to you about a series of things about the military development of North Korea, such as the North Korean Army's Pegasus tank, North Korea's **, etc. Today, let's talk about the North Korean military defense system. The enormous pressure on North Korea's air defense must be acknowledged. South Korea has absolute strength in fighter jets, such as the F35 and the like. So, to what extent has North Korea's anti-aircraft launch ** reached? So, let's talk about it.
First of all, let's talk about the composition of the DPRK's military forces. At present, the DPRK's military forces are divided into land, air, navy, strategic armies, special operations forces, and social protection forces. Until now, there was no reliable number of North Korean troops. Since the DPRK itself does not say, all countries are speculating. The prevailing view now is that North Korea has a military strength of more than 1.2 million to 1.3 million, and that among these armies, there are about 900,000 troops, which is the absolute strength of the army. Of course, these are foreign speculations. In terms of military power, North Korea is one of the few great powers in the world with millions of troops. At present, there are more than one million people in our country, the United States, Russia, and India. These three countries are all countries with vast territories, complex tasks, and relatively strong economic strength, so it is necessary to have a considerable standing army.
North Korea has a population of more than 26 million, and to feed a regular army of more than a million, it needs to have more than 26 million troops, which is a big problem. As a result, North Korea has imposed a compulsory conscription system. Unless there is a special reason, as long as they are eligible, they will be forced to enlist, and the length of service in the army is two-thirds longer than that of other countries. In contrast, the southeastern provinces of the United States had a four-month conscription policy, known as the "four months of good buddies". However, by 2024, the southeastern provinces of the United States will also implement a one-year system.
Let's get back to the point and talk about North Korea's air defense capabilities. Normally, a country's air defense system is composed of three layers of near, medium and long, and some countries will form a quadruple defense system, such as the United States. Taking the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as an example, it has basically built a long, medium, and short-range air defense network consisting mainly of the Red Flag 9 series, Red Flag 16, and Red Flag 17.
As far as anti-aircraft missiles are concerned, the DPRK seriously lacks the technology to develop and develop its own air-defense missiles, and until now, the DPRK Army's anti-aircraft missile system was mainly made in the Soviet Union. Among these **, the SAM-2 anti-aircraft missile is the largest one. The SAM-2 is a new type of air defense ** developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s, with a maximum effective attack range of 40 kilometers. If you want to move, you have to have a special position.
The SAM-2 air defense system, you may not be familiar with the era, we used the "SAM-2" as the prototype to develop the famous "Hongqi-2", which is also an important force in the PLA army. But now, most of the air defense systems of the Hongqi-2 type have been retired. According to foreign media reports, the North Korean military still has more than 270 SAM-2 air defense missiles, which still occupy a dominant position in North Korea and has the largest air defense force in North Korea.
Because mobile firing is not possible, the SAM-2 air defense system is not suitable for various mechanical units of the North Korean army. The North Korean military imported more than 30 Sam-2 missiles from the Soviet Union to meet its mobile air defense needs. The SAM-3 is an all-weather defense** developed by the USSR for striking enemies at medium and low altitudes with a maximum attack range of 20 km. Since the Sam-3 is also a product of the Soviet era, the DPRK's medium-range defense system is a very weak link.
Its indicators are far behind the advanced international level. But on the whole, there are only more than 30 units, which is far from enough to form a complete medium-range defense system. The North Korean military is severely lacking in medium-range air defenses, such as Russia's Shikili, China's Hongqi-16, and the United States' Standard 2. If the enemy's advanced fighters are able to break through our defenses, then it will be troublesome.
In fact, North Korea itself has an S200 long-range defense system. The S200 is a long-range defense developed by the Soviet Union in the 60s and 70s**, and North Korea has also introduced it in large quantities. According to foreign media speculation, the North Korean military currently has about 30-40 S200 air defense missiles, most of which are located in the surrounding areas of Pyongyang and some other large cities.
The S200 anti-aircraft missile weighs more than 7 tons and has a maximum attack range of more than 100 km. And now, the world's latest generation of anti-tank missiles is only 1 ton. In the case of the Hongqi 9 BE, its total weight is about 13 tons, the maximum firing range is 260 km. Up to now, there are more than 30 S200 air defense systems, which are still the main long-range defense force of North Korea.
In North Korea, at a military parade in 2010, a long-range air defense device "Lightning 300", very similar to the Russian S-5, was demonstrated. However, the DPRK's "Lightning 5" missile was not imported from Russia. According to foreign media reports, in the 90s of the last century, the DPRK used a variety of ways and means to obtain a batch of S300PT air defense missiles from the former Soviet Union in Eastern Europe in order to enhance its air power. However, there are not many such people.
Later, the DPRK imitated the S300PT missile and received some technical support from foreign countries. The S300PT is a finalized version of the S300PT, which was called the "Lightning 5" during the DPRK's 2010 military exercises. Now it seems that the Lightning 5 missile has not yet been mass-produced. Since this S300PT is the predecessor of the S300, all aspects of performance are not top-notch. Therefore, North Korea did not manufacture a large number of Thunderbolt-5 missiles.
In recent years, the DPRK has conducted demonstrations of a new generation of Thunderbolt-6 long-range anti-aircraft missiles during a military review in the DPRK. Outwardly, it is very different from the S300 5, but it is more like the defense system of the Russian S400. We don't know how many there are, but in reality, they got some technical support from overseas. As for the defense capabilities of Inazuma 6, it is unclear.
In terms of overall structure, North Korea's missile defense system still uses old Soviet-era missiles, such as the Sam-2 and Sam-3. The above-mentioned air defense system is very low in its anti-jamming performance against all kinds of new technologies that emerged in the 20s of the 21st century. North Korea's S300 imported from Eastern Europe and its self-developed Lightning 5 and Lightning 6 cannot completely replace the older models due to insufficient production.
Air defense and control of the sky are interdependent. In the war between Russia and Ukraine, without air superiority, it is difficult to deal with air power on land alone. North Korea's air power consists mainly of more than 30 Mi-29 fighters. Whether it is in terms of quantity or comprehensive ability, it is inferior.
In the course of the development of the North Korean army, many such things have already arisen. I'll talk to you slowly in a later post.
Authors affirm: This content is a report generated by artificial intelligence feedback.