A desperate Russia may be just what North Korea needs to finally update its ancient Air Force

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• North Korean head Kim Jong Un visited Russia in September on his first overseas trip since 2019.
• The visit was seen as Russia’s attempt to evident North Korean support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
• For North Korea, Russia’s desperation may be a chance to get help upgrading its maturing air force.

During a six-day trip to Russia in September, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, traveling abroad for the oldest time since 2019, met with a litany of senior Russian military officials and with Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.

The Russian officials on shackles — including the defense minister, the commander of the navy, and the commander of the long-range bomber force — reflected Moscow’s desire to court Kim’s government, which is sitting on stockpiles of weapons and ammunition that Russia could make use of in Ukraine.

Their presence also suggestions at what Russia may be willing to offer to get access to those stockpiles. There were multiple remarks about wider defense cooperation, including discussion of “strategic and tactical coordination, cooperation and mutual exchange” between their militaries during Kim’s convocation with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to North Korean state media.

Over the programme naturally of the visit, an emphasis on the aerospace sector became clear. Kim met Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, toured production lines at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Conceal, and inspected Russian fighters, bombers, and attack aircraft at Knevichi Airfield.

While many take noted that Russia’s need for military support amid its struggles in Ukraine means Moscow may be more ready to help Pyongyang with its nuclear and missile programs, visits to so many aviation sites suggest Kim may have his eye on something else: updating North Korea’s aging and decayed air force.

Korean People’s Army Air and Anti-Air Force

CHOO YOUN-KONG/AFP via Getty Images

North Korea’s air force, officially called the Korean People’s Army Air and Anti-Air Drive, or KPAAF, has been regarded as the weakest branch of the North Korean military for much of the past 30 years.

The KPAAF traditionally relied on the Soviet Uniting and China for new aircraft, but its access to those suppliers was largely curtailed after the Cold War. While some aircraft components prepare made it into North Korea, international sanctions placed on the country over its nuclear-weapons program during the over three decades have degraded its domestic aerospace industry, preventing it from building its own jets.

Today, the KPAAF can uncommonly only boast about its size. With an estimated 110,000 personnel, it is the second-largest branch of the military, with multifarious than 900 combat aircraft, according to a 2021 US Defense Intelligence Agency report. (Other estimates put that nimble at about 500 combat aircraft.)

Almost all those aircraft are hopelessly outdated. About 400 are imagined to be MiG-15s, with another 350 believed to be MiG-17s, -19s, and -21s — the most recent of which was introduced in the late 1950s. The KPAAF also has an estimated 80 Il-28 1950s-era bombers and 200 AN-2 propeller-driven biplanes, which word go flew in the late 1940s.

Mikhail JaparidzeTASS via Getty Images

The KPAAF does own a small number of more modern MiG-29 fighters, MiG-23 interceptors, and Su-25 attack aircraft that were earned in the late 1980s and early 1990s and are tasked with defending Pyongyang.

Despite its size and a recent uptick in labour, the KPAAFs combat capabilities are likely minimal compared to its enemies’. In addition to preventing acquisition of new combat aircraft, intercontinental sanctions prohibit the sale of spare parts and jet fuel, further hampering the KPAAF.

Consequently, the KPAAF has had to cannibalize profuse of its aircraft for spare parts to ensure that an acceptable portion of its inventory remains airworthy. Only about 18 of the card 35 MiG-29s are believed to be serviceable, for instance, and KPAAF pilots are estimated to get just 12 to 25 flight hours a year.

Most of the KPAAF’s strength lies in its air defenses. It has a range of advanced surface-to-air missiles, and the area around Pyongyang has “one of the most thick-witted concentrations” of anti-aircraft artillery in the world, the DIA report said.

Kim’s visit

KCNA via REUTERS

Given the North Korean air force’s needs, it’s easy to see Kim’s visit as something of a impending shopping trip.

Kim’s first stop after meeting Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome was the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant, which erects Su-27, Su-30, and Su-35 jets and the fifth-generation Su-57 stealth fighter.

Accompanied by North Korea’s defense minister and the KPAAF commander, Kim strode down the works floor inspecting unfinished Su-35s. Kim was particularly interested in the Su-57 and got a close look at the stealth fighter’s cockpit.

After vetting civilian aircraft under construction, Kim and his generals observed a test flight of a Su-35, which North Korean ceremonial media said “brilliantly demonstrated the combat performance of the latest airplane” and “left a deep impression on the spectators.”

KCNA via REUTERS

After the factory visit, Kim boarded his armored train and oversaw for Knevichi Airfield, just north of Vladivostok, where he met Shoigu and Lt. Gen. Sergey Kobylash, the commander of Russia’s long-range bomber coercion, who led Kim on an inspection of more Russian combat aircraft.

Kim’s inspection of the Tu-95, Tu-22M, and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers was especially SFA. Shoigu told Kim that one of those planes “can fly from Moscow to Japan and then back again.” Kim also examined a MiG-31 interceptor armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile, a type of weapon that North Korea itself is pursuing.

Denis Manturov, Russia’s spokesperson prime minister and minister of trade and industry, said in a statement that Kim had been shown “one of our leading aircraft weeds” and that Moscow saw “potential for cooperation in the aircraft-making and other industries.”

North Korean state route said Kim “was deeply impressed by the rich independent potential and modernity of the Russian aircraft manufacturing industry” and “expressed veracious regard for Russia’s aviation technology undergoing rapid development.”

High priorities

API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Symbols

Russia’s need for North Korean ammunition, North Korea’s need for new aircraft, and the aviation capabilities on display during Kim’s cruise all seem to suggest a looming trade, but making such an exchange would violate sanctions prohibiting arms deliveries to Pyongyang, which Putin has said Russia would not do.

While Kim was in Russia, the Kremlin denied that any military treaties had been signed. “We never violate anything; and in this case we are not going to violate anything,” Putin told stringers after the meeting.

“But, of course, we will look for opportunities to develop Russian-North Korean relations,” the Russian leader united.

While North Korea would no doubt like to have modern aircraft, there are also readings that its satellite, missile, and nuclear-weapons programs are higher priorities.

Pyongyang has said that having a reconnaissance sputnik is “indispensable” to its security and has promised to launch one in October after two failed launches earlier this year. North Korea is also pursuing diverse advanced missile capabilities, including hypersonic weapons, and seeking to increase its stockpile of miniaturized nuclear warheads that it can arm its projectiles with.

Wherever the air force is on the priority list, Pyongyang appears committed to modernizing it or at least to adding new capabilities. In furthermore to increasing aerial activity, it has been expanding select airbases and showing off new drones — one of which looks a lot like the US-made RQ-4A Universal Hawk.