When North Korean fighter pilots suit up, they make sure to bring their special pillows.
Pictures from North Korean state TV of a North Korean SU-25 pilot have been posted on the website Alert 5. In one picture the pilot has a red velvet and laced headrest on the ejection seat behind him.
When retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula saw the picture, he was "frappin' speechless" that a fighter pilot would have "such an accoutrement" in the cockpit.
"No self-respecting fighter pilot would ever have a pink pillow with lace on it in his fighter cockpit," Deptula said. "It kind of indicates the displaced priorities and also the hubris with which the North Korean fighter pilots think of themselves."
Given North Korea's limited resources, making sure their fighter pilots' head are comfy isn't the wisest investment, he said.
"If they can only afford to fly a handful of hours a year, they need to be focusing on equipping their aircraft with something other than pink pillows with lace," Deptula said.
The photo made retired Air Force Lt. Col. Sean Gustafson chuckle. Gustafson was an F-16 pilot when he was in the Air Force.
"The only time I have heard 'a friend' bring a pillow is for lumbar support on a 10+ hour cross country across the Pond (Pacific or Atlantic), but to see such a 'cute' pillow for a fully helmeted head makes for quite the laugh," Gustafson said in an email to Air Force Times. "It would be hard to gun an enemy aircraft when you are laughing so hard."
One former F-15E pilot was perplexed by why North Korean pilots would need a headrest.
"Not sure what purpose it serves others than decorative," retired Air Force Lt. Col. Daren Sorenson said in an email. "Realize they're actually sitting in their coffin as they don't stand a chance in combat. Maybe it's some burial ritual they've accepted as their wartime outcome."
