Continuing with Helion's look into the military of this most secretive nation, we have this edition on the People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force. One of the problems with being a pariah state, is that of being sanctioned in pretty much every aspect of running a country. This includes the ability to easily obtain the weapons that one feels one needs to protect dear leader.

Initially, North Korea got a lot of aid in building up their air force and anti-air force from both the Chinese and the Soviets. This was especially true after the Korean War. At that time, North Korea had little in the way of the ability to manufacture aircraft or artillery, so it was fortuitous that they were able to get help from neighbors. As time moved on, obtaining this sort of assistance became more and more difficult. So the North Koreans became quite adept at not only keeping old systems fully functional for longer than anyone else, but also in making modifications to make them somewhat relevant. It was only recently that they retired the MiG-15. They also became particularly good at subterfuge and were able to sneak in supplies from those nations willing to provide them.

Of course, this sort of thing is not something that any nation can really keep up for long, so the North Koreans started doing as much as they could on their own. This includes reverse engineering anti-air systems and trying to develop their own aviation assets. They have been fairly successful at the first and not so successful at the latter. Where they have been successful is in the development of drones, which they have used to recon South Korea with some success.

As with previous editions, the ability to obtain information is somewhat sketchy at times, though enough has been provided over the years to get a fairly good picture of what is going on. A background history of both their aviation and anti-air systems is provided in addition to conjecture on what the future might bring. The vast majority of images are from North Korean propaganda and as you might expect, include many images of dear leader surrounded by note-taking generals. There are the usual full color profiles and some interesting maps and charts to round things out.

In all, it is an excellent companion to the earlier volume and is one that I found very interesting. I can most easily recommend this one to you.

May 2026

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