Thursday 14 May 2020

In Aid Of Juche: How Cuban Anti-Submarine Helicopters Ended Up In North Korea


By Joost Oliemans and Stijn Mitzer

Novel information featured in one of our articles for NK News detail the procurement of at least six anti-submarine helicopters from Cuba, once again showing North Korea ensures its armed forces remain well equipped in an era of sanctions and economic hardship.

In aid of Juche: how Cuban anti-submarine helicopters ended up in North Korea

The DPRK attempted to rectify its rudimentary ASW capabilities by dealing with Havana in the early 2000s.


''Throughout the Cold War, the DPRK's anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities were largely rudimentary, relying mainly on surface combatants and outdated technology to counter this developing threat. Starting in the early 2000s, it attempted to partly rectify this situation by the acquisition of at least half a dozen ASW helicopters and their equipment from Cuba in a deal that has long gone unnoticed. Nowadays, their operational status is uncertain.

Apparently first receiving overhauls in Russia, four Mi-14s and at least two Ka-28s (the export variant of the Ka-27) were exported in the years 2002 to 2004, at a rate of two per year.''

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The full analysis can be found at the NK News website here: https://www.nknews.org/2020/05/in-aid-of-juche-how-cuban-anti-submarine-helicopters-ended-up-in-north-korea/

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