[Janos]

Someone in Somethingawful.com forums pointed out in some recent discussion a true jewel: North Korean's War Strategy.

The article is quite hilarious and dead serious. Some gems:

Third, North Korea's total war plan has two components: massive conventional warfare and weapons of mass destruction. If the US mounts a preemptive strike on North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear plants, North Korea will retaliate with weapons of mass destruction: North Korea will mount strategic nuclear attacks on the US targets.  The US war planners know this and have drawn up their own nuclear war plan.  In a nuclear exchange, there is no front or rear areas, no defensive positions or attack formations as in conventional warfare.  Nuclear weapons are offensive weapons and there is no defense against nuclear attacks except retaliatory nuclear attacks. For this reason, North Korea's war plan is offensive in nature: North Korea's war plan goes beyond repulsing US attackers and calls for destruction of the United States.

The US army in Korea is equipped with Paladin anti-artillery guns that can trace enemy shells back to the guns and fire shells at the enemy guns with pin-point accuracy. However, it takes for the Paladins about 10 min to locate the enemy guns, during which time the Paladins would be targeted by the enemy guns   Gen. Thomas A Schwartz, a former US army commander in Korea, stated that the US army in Korea would be destroyed in less than three hours.

North Korea has developed tanks ideally suited for the many rivers and mountains of Korea. These tanks are called "Chun-ma-ho", which can navigate steep slopes and cross rivers as much as 5.5 m deep.  North Korea's main battle tanks - T-62s - have 155 mm guns and can travel as fast as 60 km per hour. The US main tanks - M1A - have 120 mm guns and cannot travel faster than 55 km per hour.  North Korean tanks have skins 700 mm thick and TOW-II is the only anti-tank missile in the US arsenal that can penetrate this armored skin.

Korea is 100 km wide and 125 km long, and so US air-to-air missiles would be of limited use and effectiveness, because North Korean MiGs would approach the US planes in close proximity and commingle with US planes, and air-to-air missiles will become useless and machines guns will have to be used. MiG19s have 30mm guns, MiG21s have 23mm guns, and F-14s have 20mm Valkans. North Korean pilots are trained to hug the enemy planes so that air-to-air missiles cannot be used.  In contrast, US pilots are trained to lock on the enemy at long distance with radar and fire missiles. US planes are heavily armed with electronics and less agile than the light, lean MiGs that can climb and turn faster than the US planes.

F-14s are about 3.3 times heavier than MiG21s, and F-150Es are about 3.6 times heavier. MiG21s are 16.6 m long whereas F-14s are 19.1 m and F-15Es 19.43 m long.  MiG21s cab climb to 18km, whereas F-1A can climb to 15.8 km and F-16 to 15.2 km.  MiGs get upper hands in close-range dogfights in which agility matters.  In Vietnam, US planes were forced to jettison auxiliary gas tanks and bombs in order to engage MiGs.  F-150 E planes will carry BLU-113 bunker busters that weigh 2,250 kg each in the next war in Korea. Loaded with such a heavy bomb, F-15s will become easy targets for North Korea's MiGs.   US fighter-bombers will be protected by F-15C fighter escorts.  

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And a lot more. Find your jewels, read, discuss, laugh.

[Kazan]

Mirimar, 'nough said

[Gank]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/korea-crisis.htm

Numbers arent far wrong, capabilitys are overplayed but I wouldnt start pissing yourself laughing at the thought of North Korea putting up a fight, its trained for the last 50 years to do exactly that.

[Janos]

Well, I don't doubt their capability to put up a fight and the numerical stuff is a-OK also, but the other stuff they have is pretty hilarious.
"THE US PLANES ARE TOO LADEN WITH ELECTRONICS AND CAN'T USE THEIR MISSILES" is one of my favourites, as well as their weird depictions how they will attack "US career" [sic] groups. They actually tell that F-15 is worse than MiG-21 Fishbed because it's heavier.

Also, the NK artillery is so strong because they have preserved all pieces from WW2-era upwards.

[IceFire]

Well they are partially right that the short ranges (by todays standards) over Korea are going to somewhat limit the use of AMRAAM medium range missiles.  A medium range missile is only so useful and US pilots ARE trained to fight in knife fights... most training sessions at Cold Lake and other sessions emphasize dogfighting tactics in jet fighters rather than long range missile duels....inevitably a medium range missile is the first stage of the engagement followed by short range missiles and then guns.

What will really alter the balance of power I think is the introduction of the AIM-9X as standard on all US fighters.  Similar to the AA-11 Archer (I think its R-57 Russian desgination?) it has a thrust vectored engine system and its target designator can be slaved to the pilots helmet.  So...even in a knife fight with a MiG-21 a US fighter equipped with this technology can use missiles at oblique angles that NK missiles (as far as I know they don't possess AA-11's)  wouldn't even have a chance of locking on.

Not to mention the F-15's reputation of 101 to 0 kills to losses (although I suspect of that has to do with pilot training and the conditions that the F-15 is in - the unspoiled rep would probably be degraded in a significant conflict).

The other element is that a number of F-14 squadrons have been phased out.  The F/A-18E is in as fleet defender and much more manuverable, smaller, and stealthier than the veteran F-14 Tomcat.

So its only worth some of what its saying

[Gank]

Given that US forces in Korea are equipped with F16s the technological superiority of the F15 is kinda irrelevant. Anyways I think the author is referring to bomber interception when hes talking about the older migs, nk will probably use the more capable Mig-29s they have to engage any intercepters.

Technological superiority only goes so far, USAF might have better missiles but planes can only carry so many. Think theres 72 f16s in korea, 48 f15s in Japan and whatevers on carriers in the area facing 5-600 nk fighters as well as thousands of sams. NK certainly has the capability of making US domination of the skies costly, if not impossible.

Btw I wouldnt laud the F/A18 too much, the only plane lost in air to air combat during the gulf war was one.