The North Korean Air Force once had advanced Soviet fighters, such as the MiG-23 and MiG-29, which in the 70s were able to compete with the Chinese Air Force and even suppress the South Korean Air Force. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the DPRK Air Force lost its main equipment** and continued to use old aircraft.
At the same time, the South Korean Air Force has been constantly upgrading, introducing a large number of modern fighters from the United States, such as the F15K, F16V and F35, whose performance far exceeds that of the Chinese J-10B. At present, South Korea already has more than 60 first-class fighters F35, while the North Korean Air Force can only rely on more than 150 obsolete MiG-15s, and the flight ability of these aircraft is questionable. Therefore, the North Korean Air Force urgently needs a fighter that can compete with the South Korean Air Force.
The North Korean Air Force's air defense radar system also lags behind South Korea, and although the Air Police 200 can meet the air defense needs of the Korean Peninsula, its radar power, layout and detection range are not advanced enough compared to the Air Police 500.
*The Y-9 shown above is an important addition to the North Korean Air Force, which lacks reliable transport aircraft. The Y-9's power system is four turboprop engines, which are fuel-efficient, easy to maintain, and have short take-off and landing distances, making them suitable for North Korean use.
* The J-10 fighter also appeared on it, which is surprising, because the Chinese J-10 fighter has not been decommissioned, and it can be seen from the air inlet structure that this is the J-10B or J-10C, which are new fighters that have only entered service in recent years.
A J-10C costs at least $30 million, does North Korea have such financial resources?Even if there is, the J-10 fighter is not the best choice for the North Korean Air Force, because it cannot compete with the F35 fighter, and unless China can provide ** fighters like the J-20 and J-35, the North Korean Air Force will still be suppressed by the South Korean Air Force.
What's even more incredible is that there is also a flying-wing drone on the **, which is the Chinese Strike 11, which is an advanced ** UAV, which the Chinese Air Force intends to use as a wingman for the J-20. Can such a fighter also be able to provide assistance to North Korea?Even if it could, would North Korea have the ability to operate it?None of the Chinese Air Force has yet to fully master the use of Attack 11, as it has only been in service for less than 5 years.
As far as we know, China has only provided some Flying Leopard fighters to the DPRK, and it is impossible for other aircraft on the ** to do so.
From a tactical point of view, the strength of the DPRK Air Force did not have much impact on the war. If war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea needs anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles and precision-guided artillery shells, which can allow North Korea to strike at South Korea's capital from the border area, and can also cover the entire territory of South Korea with Iranian-developed airmobile cruise missiles. To prevent the U.S. from launching another Inchon landing, North Korea needs anti-ship missiles like the DF-21 to prevent the U.S. from providing large-scale aid to South Korea.
The war between North Korea and the United States and South Korea is an "asymmetric war", so North Korea needs some "asymmetric" **, and it makes no sense to use J-10 and Attack 11 to fight against the US and South Korean forces. What North Korea needs now is some cheap and practical drones that can be used to reconnoitre, jam and strike enemy targets. High-end fighters are a burden for North Korea, because North Korea does not have qualified pilots, and many pilots have not even seen third-generation fighters.
From a strategic point of view, if the Korean Peninsula were to be reunified, it could be a bad thing for China, because historically, countries aided by China tended to betray China, as Vietnam did. Therefore, China cannot come to the aid of the DPRK for free, and must get something valuable.
The land of the Korean Peninsula is barren, there is nothing to attract China, they have no oil, they are not rich in mineral resources, even less than Outer Mongolia.
They don't have enough food to eat for themselves, and they have to rely on Chinese aid, and their only valuable thing is access to the sea. Now that Russia has opened the port of Vladivostok to China, if North Korea can hand over the right to use several ports in the north to China, then the economy of China's northeast region will develop greatly, and Jilin Province will have an excellent coastline where several ice-free ports can be built, which is very important for China. If North Korea has such sincerity, China could also consider giving them some more advanced fighters.