DPRK Fighter Enters ROK Airspace

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Airwolf

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http://newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/772500p-5553789c.html

Wednesday, February 19, 2003 11:44PM EST

North Korean fighter jet crosses disputed border
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A North Korean fighter jet briefly crossed the western sea border with South Korea on Thursday, and a South anti-aircraft missile unit went into battle position, a South Korean military official said.The North Korean jet retreated without incident after two South Korea fighter jets went to the area, said Major Lee Dong-chan, a spokesman for the South Korean air force. The incident came three days after North Korea threatened to abandon the armistice keeping the peace between the two Koreas if the United States went ahead with sanctions or other actions against the communist country.

The North does not recognize the so-called Northern Limit Line maritime border that was drawn up by the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and the border has been a site of tensions in the past.

A North Korean MiG-19 jet fighter crossed the border at 10:03 a.m. and headed back into communist territory two minutes later. This was the first incursion by North Korean military jet since 1983.

"We will strongly protest this provocation," Lee said.
A South Korea anti-aircraft missile unit based near Incheon, a seaport west of Seoul, went into battle position. At the same time, two South Korean F-5E jets went to the scene to try to intercept the North Korean intruder, Lee said.

Later, four more South Korean F-5E jets were deployed to the area.

In June last year, warships of the two Koreas clashed near the western sea border. One South Korean warship sank, killing six sailors and wounding 18 others. North Korea admitted that it also suffered casualties but did not say how many.

In 1999, a series of North Korean incursions across the western sea border touched off the first naval clash between the sides since the war. One North Korean boat sank, and about 30 communist sailors were believed to have died. Several South Koreans were injured.

The two Koreas, divided in 1945, share the world's most heavily armed border. About 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, in a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Tensions have been high on the Korean Peninsula since the United States said in October that the North admitted having a secret nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang has since pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
 
The North does not recognize the so-called Northern Limit Line maritime border that was drawn up by the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and the border has been a site of tensions in the past.

Oh BS. If they didn't recognize it the pilot would have felt no need to beat feet when the Tiger IIs showed up. After all the Mig would have been rightfully in it's airspace right? Geez, brain fade. I always get the -17 and -19 confused. Help me out was it a Fagot or a Farmer? No, not both. Either way it's pretty lame for a frontline military to be flying some combloc crap so old that private Americans own them and have them on the airshow circuit. I guess the fact that the Korean war relic is still flying is a testament to the Soviet philosophy of simple, robust airframes.
 
That little sawed off tyrant is going to push buttons and keep pushing buttons until someone blinks. Then he's going to do something really stupid.:cuss: :cuss:

One of the TFLers had a sig line that said "Stupidity should be painful." I agree. Kim Jung Il should give birth




















TO AN ELEPHANT :what: :neener:
 
The Mig-19 is circa, what, 1954?
True, but the F-5E's are not exactly hot off the press either. IIRC, F-5E's are also daylight fighters, with no capability for radar-guided missiles. Instead, it carries 2 sidewinders and a gun.

In a low and slow close-in turning engagement, I suspect a well-fought Mig-19 might still be a pretty worthy adversary.
 
The Mig-19 and F-5 are moderately comparable, although I dare say that the F-5 has been upgraded more thoroughly. But the original series Migs (pre-23) have historically been adequate dogfighters as they are small and manueverable. That's on condition that they are flown by competent pilots, though. Of course, North Korea is believed to have farmed its pilots out to other air forces for actual combat experience.
 
Notice that both countries sent up more "expendable" hardware?

North Korea has a few MiG-29 aircraft, but they are used to guard the airspace over Pyongyang (like they're going to last very long there if the USAF and USN show up). Still, the main North Korean fighter is the MiG-21, not the older MiG-19.

Likewise, the mainstay of the South Korean air force is made up of F-16 and F-4 variants (they are contracting F-15K's now).

BTW, South Korean F-5E's are considerably more capable than North Korean MiG-19's (and I am not even counting the pilot quality differential, based on number of hours flown by the pilots on both sides).
 
Bahadur: What makes the F5E more capable? Power-to-weight ratio? Turning performance? Armament? I'm not trying to start an argument, just asking as I don't know. All I really can say is that both are small daylight fighters that seemed to have a reputation for being pretty agile.

It did surprise me that South Korea sent up the F5Es, rather than F15s. Perhaps that was just due to chance (i.e., what aircraft were nearby) rather than design? I'm puzzled by it.
 
The F-5 series are excellent scramble birds. While the F-15 is a far better aircraft, sometimes simplicity means faster into action.
 
Wow... the fact that the DRPK is still using the Mig-19 says alot about the state of their military.

What's next? Surveillance overflights by Yak-9's?

:neener:
 
That Mig 19 is also known as 'bait' or 'sacrificial lamb', just provocation from N.Korea to agitate.

I thought the Korean F5s have had ALL their avionics/electronics upgraded by the Isrealis? No longer the original plane.
 
Blackhawk, ain't it cool? I've spent many an afternoon when I should have been doing something productive looking at that site.

CWL, the F-5 has been upgraded several times, but there's only so much that can be done. It's a neat little plane, but it can't really carry much. The funny thing about it is that it was never adopted by USAF as a fighter. The trainer version, the T-38 is still used, but the F-5 model was made for export.

M1911, it's a better plane than the MiG-19 for a couple of reasons. It's a little bit faster, which is a function of weight, as the F-5E's engines are significantly less powerful than the MiG-19. The lower weight also results in a more agile aircraft. The upgraded systems on the aircraft can't hurt performance either.

I would wager that they just happened to be in the area when the N. Korean pilot strayed South.
 
It is quite possible that the north Korean pilot crossed the line because he was getting in ALL of his annual hours and simply forgot how to read a map. :rolleyes: The north Korean air force is a little bit more of a threat than saddam hussein's, but not by much...
 
hmm, international incident between a 1950's antique and a couple of hotrodded 1970's US knock offs... bets on whether the MiG would still hold together past Mach 1 in a turn?
 
M1911:
Bahadur: What makes the F5E more capable? Power-to-weight ratio? Turning performance? Armament? I'm not trying to start an argument, just asking as I don't know. All I really can say is that both are small daylight fighters that seemed to have a reputation for being pretty agile.
Azrael256 already gives a good explanation of the structural differences. Although he brushes off the avionic capability of the Korean F-5E's (they're certainly not the latest block F-15/16/18 avionics for sure), it is substantially superior to North Korea MiG-19 avionics.
It did surprise me that South Korea sent up the F5Es, rather than F15s.
ROKAF doesn't have F-15K's yet. They have F-16's in a couple of variants. Boeing just got the contract for the F-15K.

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2002/q2/nr_020419m.html

About the F-15K from the horse's mouth:

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/f15/f-15k/

Perhaps that was just due to chance (i.e., what aircraft were nearby) rather than design? I'm puzzled by it.
My guess is that the F-5E's are the "frontline" CAP aircraft for the ROKAF, backed up by F-4's. My guess is that their F-16's are reserved for dual air superiority/interdiction missions.

North Koreans probably deploy the MiG-19's at the front, backed by the MiG-21's (and, as mentioned before, a few MiG-29's over Pyongyang). Whether, in the event of a war, the North would fling everything for a "massive" airstrike on the South, I can't say... They got other assets for attacking airfields and pilots.

BTW, when the ROKAF acquires its own independent Satint means and AWACS aircraft (which won't be very far into the future), North Korean air force is toast, with or without our help.
 
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