Global Conflict Reporting

Tag: South Korea

  • South Korean patrol plane crashes.

    South Korean P-3 Orion

    By. Scott Jackson

    05/30/2025

    Yesterday on May 29th, 2025, a South Korea Lockheed P-3 Orion MPA took off from its Pohang base at 1:43PM and crashed shortly after takeoff. The South Korean Navy after getting responders to the site of the crash, a crash which was caught partially on video, annonced that all 4 of the crew had died in the crash and subsequent explosion.

    Still image taken from the video showing the crash of the P-3.

    The South Korean Navy is conducting an investigation into why the plane went down appointing the vice chief of naval operations to investigate the incident.

    From what we know from the preliminary information It seems after takeoff for a routine training mission the crew of 4 had issues with the plane and attempted to bring it back in for a landing. Not being able to make it back to the airfield the crew seems to have made the decision to put it down into a less dense area striking what looks like the outskirts of a farm. 

    Scott here.The crew should be commended for managing to get the plane over a less populated area than where they were when it appears problems with the plane started. They saved alot of lives not letting this plane crabs into the many residential areas around here. Just several hundred feet from where they crashed is a large apartment complex.
    Close approximation of where the plane crashed. These apartments appeared in a lot of the footage locals were taking of the crash which helped with geolocation efforts.

    This crash sadly ends the 30 year safety record for the aging but still reliable P-3 Orion. This plane has seen decades of use as a maritime patrol plane as well as a capable ASW (Anti-Submarine warfare) hunter. The plane can be loaded up with dozens of sonar bouy’s which can detect subs as well as the torpedos and depth charges which can be dropped once an enemy sub has been detected. The Orion also has the ability to carry several Harpoon Anti-Ship missiles.

    The South Koreans originally acquired 8 P-3C aircraft but liked them so much they latwr doubled that by adding 8 more P-3CK variants (P-3B variants thag were modified by South Korean).

    While the investigation is still ongoing for a cause defense analyst have noted the immense strain put on these craft as the South Korean Navy only have a limited number compared to say Japan who operate around 100 of them. This offers broader coverage as well as the increased availability for these planes to rotate through maintenance.

    Overview of the area. 
    Thank you for reading. I’m always open for questions, comments, tips and will entertain the idea of collaboration if you have an interesting project you can get me excited about. 

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    This article was fun to write as I was able to get back into geolocation. Nobody online,to my knowledge, had yet worked out the crash site. Usually I’m able to check my work with one of the Geolocation experts but no luck this time. 

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  • North Korea officially shows off its new Airborne Early Warning/Command and control aircraft.

    Yet unnamed North Korean AEW&C’s

    By. Scott Jackson

    March 28th, 2025

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un revealed the country’s new airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) jet at an event at Pyongyang International Airport.

    The plane is designed around the body of a Ilyushin Il-76 Candid, the same plane used for the Russian’s Beriev A-50 “Mainstay” and the Chinese Shaanxi KJ-2000 “Mainring”. The name of the new North Korean airplane has not been released as of yet.

    Russian “Mainstay “ flanked by two Russian MiG-31’s.
    Chinese “Mainring”

    One thing noticed about the North Korean version of this aircraft is that it lacks the normal amount of antenna one would usually expect in these types of planes. This could signal a lack of features found in Russian and Chinese version. Another difference, at least to the Russian Mainstay is that the radome on top does not spin. This is similar to the Chinese version. Fixed radomes like this house 3 fixed phased array radars that each cover 120 degrees of the sky for a fill 369 degrees.

    North Korean leader Kim Jung Un climbs aboard new NK AWAC’s.
    Diagram showing the degrees of coverage from the plane.

    Images of the interior of the plane were also released showing at least seven individual workstations and several flatscreens for displaying mission data. AEW&C aircraft typically have large crews for operating the radar as well covering traffic control duties for friendly aircraft and mission control for different units. The exsist acne of this plane has been known for over a year as satilite pictures were released showing the plane under construction. The Warzone has an older write up on the possible capabilities of North Korean AEW&C’s that I would like to include.

    Kim Jung Un tours the interior of the NK Airborne Early Warning & Command airplane.

    “While it’s questionable to what degree more complex battle management and command and control functions could be mastered by North Korea, and hosted aboard an AEW&C aircraft, the ability to extend airborne radar coverage over considerable distances would be a great advantage, either providing prior warning of a potential attack from South Korea and/or tracking incoming aircraft and missiles during at least the opening moments of a conflict. The data it collects could also be shared with surface-to-air missile operators to help provide extra warning to enhance their operations. More importantly, it would provide a new tool for daily surveillance of North Korean and South Korean airspace and an avenue to learn to better perfect AEW&C capabilities.”

    They went in to include.

    “Ultimately, an airborne radar, as found in an AEW&C aircraft, provides a ‘look down’ capability that can spot aircraft, cruise missiles, or drones among the ground clutter and is far less restricted by high terrain compared to ground-based radars. No such radar was previously available to North Korea.”

    “On the other hand, there are no signs that North Korea is converting more than a single Il-76 for the AEW&C mission, which means this kind of coverage would be necessarily limited.”

    A shot of the plane under construction back in 2024.
    Shot from earlier this year.

    It’s likely but unclear how much support North Korea received from China or Russia in the construction of the craft. One thought is that Russia provided help with the project in exchange for North Koreas recent aid in Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. North Korea earlier sent around 10,000 soldiers to help in Russia Kursk region and just recently it was announced that 2,000 more were being dispatched to the region.

  • South Korean fighter jet accidentally drops bombs on South Korean town.

    South Korean fighter jet accidentally drops bombs on South Korean town.

    By. Scott Jackson

    03/06/2025

    At 10:04am local time, Thursday, during a training exercise, a South Korean fighter jet, a KIA KF-16 dropped 8 bombs on the town of Pocheon in South Korea, near the border with North Korea.

    Some of the damage shown as well as a quick snap of the aftermath of the explosion.

    While only one of the bombs is thought to explode the damage destroyed a church and several other buildings. Thankfully although a reported 7 that were injured, some in critical condition and were hospitalized, there were no fatalities. All injured remained conscious, many involved had bone fractures and breaks and one man caught shrapnel in his neck while driving.

    A South Korean Air Force official said ” Our KF-16, abnormally dropped 8 shells of MK-82 bombs, it landed outside of firing range.” The Air Force continued that they would be investigating the incident and apologized for the damage cause.

    Korean KF-16 the licensed South Korean version of the F-16.
    MK-82

    Rumors were pretty heavy across social media last night, most people were trying to push a narrative that the U.S. accidentally bombed a South Korean town which isn’t true. The U.S. and South Korea havent trained together yet since the new presidential administration and will be conducting their first drills on March 10-20 as reported several days ago by AP. Ever since twitter did away with the old way it used to do verifications, you very often will see supposedly verified blue check mark accounts, lying for clicks. Just something to be aware of.