It has been reported that the North Korean Air Force and Anti-Air Force Command proposed to the People’s Army Party Committee to significantly expand the number of students at the Air Force University to train aircraft maintenance technicians.
A North Korean military source close to Daily NK reported on the 12th, “The Air Force and Anti-Air Force Command (hereinafter referred to as the Air Force Command) Party Committee submitted a proposal to the People’s Army Party Committee early this month containing measures to qualitatively and quantitatively expand the training of technical maintenance commanders to strengthen the expertise of aircraft maintenance personnel in Air Force units.”
“The core of this proposal is to accelerate the Air Force modernization proposed at the 8th Party Congress and further improve the level of aircraft maintenance commanders to enhance the operational efficiency of the Air Force as a whole and aircraft safety,” the source said.
It is said that the cause of aircraft accidents that have occurred since the 8th Party Congress in 2021 to date is not only the aging of the aircraft, but also maintenance problems and lack of technical skills, and that it has been proposed to strengthen the training of maintenance technicians over the next three years to solve these problems.
In relation to this, it has been reported that the Air Force Command Party Committee included in its proposal a plan to establish a system in which excellent graduates from industrial and technical colleges in society would enlist in the military and be directly trained as technical maintenance commanders at the Air Force University.
The source said, “The Air Force Command Party Committee stated in the proposal that it plans to actively recruit excellent talents among those scheduled to graduate from social and industrial universities and technical universities and transfer them to special classes at Kim Chaek Air Force University, and operate a separate lecture schedule to improve the expertise of aircraft technical maintenance commanders.”
Until now, the Air Force Command has mainly selected active-duty enlisted men from Air Force units and trained them as technical maintenance commanders at the Kim Chaek Air Force University in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province. In addition, it is explained that this proposal includes a plan to recruit and select college graduates who are currently civilians and train them as technical maintenance commanders.
If the People’s Army Party approves a proposal containing these contents, the number of technical maintenance commanders is expected to increase significantly over the next three years.
According to sources, this proposal is being evaluated positively within the Air Force. It is particularly noteworthy in terms of the continuous training of technical personnel for the modernization of Air Force power and strengthening of national defense capabilities.
For the North Korean Air Force, which must conduct air combat with aging aircraft, aircraft maintenance is a matter directly related to combat capability. Accordingly, the source said that strengthening the capabilities and expertise of technical maintenance commanders is emerging as an essential task.
The source said, “Within the Air Force, there is an expectation that if this proposal is ratified, the training course for technical maintenance commanders at Kim Chaek Air Force University will become more specialized,” adding, “However, there are also concerns raised about how the Air Force’s backwardness can be overcome simply by strengthening the capabilities of technical maintenance commanders, given that the overall foundation of the Air Force units is still lacking.”
Source: www.dailynk.com
