AirForces Monthly – September 2019

Above: Su-25K ‘49 Red’ performs at

the Wonsan International Friendship

Air Festival in September 2016. As well

as the Su-25s, this event saw fi rst-

ever public appearances by the KPAF’s

MiG-29, MiG-21, Hughes 500, Mi-

8/17 and the Y-5 biplane. Rich Cooper

Left: Another Su-25K at Wonsan, ‘57

Red’ trails its brake ’chute after an air

display. The current ‘ghost’ pattern

camoufl age replaced dark olive green

and light blue which was worn by

both the Su-25 and the KPAF’s MiG-

29 fi ghters. Rich Cooper Below: Serial

28 is unusual in that it doesn’t carry

a prominent ‘Bort’ number. Instead

its identity is betrayed by the serial

applied to an underwing pylon. The

Su-25 is the frontline ground-attack

mainstay of the KPAF and operates

alongside the MiG-29

out of Sunchon, under

the 1st Air Combat

Division. Rich Cooper

North Korea order

of battle

Korean People’s Air Force

Unit

55th Air Regiment (two squadrons)

Aircraft

Su-25K, Su-25UBK

Base

Sunchon

North Korea

dispersed operations from highway

strips; this is very likely the only

way the fleet would survive in

wartime. Such strips are available

on the highway linking Pyongyang

with Wonsan, which is also

provided with arched reinforced

concrete tunnels intended for

use as aircraft shelters.

Little is known about the current

state of North Korea’s Su-25

fleet, given the interruption in

the support services provided

by Russia in the 1990s and

2000s. In the propaganda video

footage from exercises released

by the regime in Pyongyang a

few Su-25s are normally shown

performing bombing runs. Five

aircraft, all single-seaters, wearing

the serials 28, 42, 45, 49 and 57,

were displayed in the air and on

the ground during the Wonsan

International Friendship Air Festival

held in September 2016.

Inventory

Aircraft Number

Su-25K 25?

Su-25UBK 4?

AFM

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #378 September 2019 // 69

66-69 SU25Survey AFM Sep2019.indd 69 8/5/2019 9:56:23 AM