The exact date of the tests of the new anti-aircraft missile system carried out in the DPRK is unknown. Apparently, they took place on May 27 in the course of work on the fine-tuning of the Phengae-5 (Molniya-5) air defense system, the launchers of which have been demonstrated for several years at parades in Pyongyang. According to some reports, the development of the complex has been going on since the beginning of the 2010s.
Kim Jong-un, who was present at the command post of the training ground, did not fail to note that soon this system would cover his possessions "like a forest" in order to dispel the illusions of enemies about their superiority in military aviation. This is indeed the case, and North Korea's lag in terms of the Air Force in the foreseeable future, given the wear and tear of its aircraft and the lack of prospects for replenishing the fleet of combat aircraft, promises to be catastrophic. Therefore, the desire to patch holes in the sky by improving anti-aircraft missile systems is the correct course for the DPRK, based on its capabilities. Pyongyang has a missile industry, in contrast to any significant aviation industry, and has a multidisciplinary personnel potential.
As for the Phengae-5 long-range air defense system itself (western designation KN-06), despite the parade displays, this system is still crude, as evidenced by Kim Jong-un's remark that in comparison with last year, the capabilities have improved on detection, pursuit and destruction of the object, the percentage of hitting the target has increased”. The penultimate (and, perhaps, the first more or less successful) test launches of missiles of this complex took place last spring. Perhaps the Phengae-5 air defense system is already in trial operation in the troops - for example, as part of one of the anti-aircraft missile brigades of the 1st Combat Aviation Command of the DPRK Air Force, covering, in particular, Pyongyang, Suncheon and Kecheon.
Let us remind readers ("Our timber truck, fly forward") that "Phengae-5" is presumably the North Korean analogue of the Chinese anti-aircraft missile system HQ-9 "Hongqi-9" (in the export version - FD-2000), created on the basis of elements Soviet anti-aircraft missile system of the S-300PM family. According to some reports, the SAM of the HQ-9 complex, unlike the S-300PM air defense missile system, has not a semi-active, but a passive radar homing head, that is, it is guided at air targets by their radar radiation - for example, on American AWACS aircraft of the E-3 and E types -2. Chinese technology could have been obtained by the DPRK through Iran. The two-container or three-container launcher and radar equipment of the Pkhengae-5 complex are mounted on an elongated chassis of a modified Tebaksan-96 national economic vehicle, which is a KamAZ-55111 dump truck produced under a Russian license.
The Pkhengae-5 solid-propellant SAM system resembles the Soviet type 5V55 (V-500) SAM of the S-300P family. As in the case of the Soviet rocket, it is launched from the TPK by an ejection when the squibs are triggered, and its own engine is turned on at a height of up to 25 meters. It can be assumed that the North Korean missile defense system has a combined guidance system - a radio command plus a passive radar missile system. Developers "Pkhengae-5" are estimated to be able to achieve a firing range for aerodynamic targets of 100-150 kilometers (against ballistic missiles - 3-4 times less) at an altitude of up to 20-25 kilometers and a course parameter of 25-30 kilometers. There is reason to believe that the channeling of the complex for missiles is two missiles per target.
In any case, it should be recognized that the North Koreans have made significant progress in developing solid propellant rocket motors for missiles and ballistic missiles. This is not surprising - the country has a fairly developed chemical industry.
Obviously, American unmanned target aircraft MQM-107D Streaker and their copies of their own production can be used as air targets in the development of new air defense systems. "Streakers", by the way, in the Korean People's Army are also adapted for use as ground-to-ground missiles launched from towed trailed launchers.
In the meantime, the basis of the anti-aircraft missile component of the DPRK air defense facility is the air defense systems previously received from the USSR and the PRC. These are semi-stationary short-range air defense systems S-125, medium-range air defense systems SA-75 and C-75 (plus their Chinese counterparts HQ-2 "Hongqi-2") and stationary long-range air defense systems C-200. Here, by the way, there were some interesting North Korean improvisations. So, Pyongyang craftsmen have created self-propelled launchers of the S-125 air defense system with two guides on the chassis of the Soviet KrAZ-255B all-terrain truck. A very smart approach in terms of increasing mobility, by the way. There is also a known version of the C-125 on the non-four-wheel drive chassis of the Belarusian truck MAZ-630308-224. It was also adapted for a self-propelled launcher of the S-75 type air-to-air missile system with one guide, and, according to some indications, the missiles of this modified complex were retrofitted with an infrared homing head - presumably based on the IKGSN of the Soviet R-60 air-to-air missile.
According to the author, if we do not take into account the significant capabilities of the potential enemy of the DPRK in terms of electronic warfare, the air defense missile systems of the DPRK Air Defense Forces are currently hypothetically capable of destroying about 160 enemy aircraft when repelling the first massive air strike (C-125 - up to 65, SA- 75, S-75 and "Khunzi-2" - up to 80, S-200 - up to 17). But this is in the most favorable conditions for the DPRK, which are unlikely to develop.
Of course, for the organization of modern air defense, air defense systems alone are not enough - electronic countermeasures are also needed. The Korean People's Army has electronic warfare equipment of Soviet origin, but they are outdated and do not fully meet today's requirements. These are, in particular, jamming stations for the TACAN P-388 tactical air navigation system, a station for suppressing aviation ultra-short-wave radio communications and guidance systems for enemy tactical aviation R-934, and jamming stations for airborne airborne radars SPN-30 and SPO-8M. All this is a technique in which tactical and technological approaches of the 70s are implemented. Therefore, the threat of the DPRK from the air attack weapons of a potential adversary seems to be the most serious.
