North Korea's military strength has always been the focus of attention of military fans at home and abroad. Recently, an AWACS aircraft appeared at a North Korean airport, and this discovery has attracted widespread attention. According to foreign commercial satellite photographs, the AWACS aircraft is apparently based on the platform of the Russian-made Il-76 large transport aircraft.
In terms of appearance, this model of early warning aircraft is very similar to the Air Police-2000 early warning aircraft in service in China. Therefore, some people believe that North Korea may have introduced similar technology, and some people even refer to the newly discovered North Korean early warning aircraft as the "North Korean version of the Air Police-2000". However, we need to clarify this point.
In 1998, in accordance with the relevant agreement between China and Israel, China introduced the early warning system of Israel's "Fercon" early warning aircraft and began to develop its own early warning aircraft. In order to circumvent US interference, the two sides deliberately adopted a system without any American-made parts, and even the early warning radar vehicle of the early warning aircraft chose the Russian-made Il-76.
However, this move provoked a strong backlash from the United States, which eventually led to the cancellation of cooperation with China in 2001 by Israel on AWACS aircraft and the transfer of three "Filcon" to India. Although it is regrettable, after this incident, China has once again realized the truth that "it is better to seek others than to seek oneself".
Our technicians made up their minds and finally developed our own large AWACS aircraft, the Air Police-2000. This aircraft, which entered service in 2007 and is known as the "Zhengqi Aircraft", is the longest-time, largest and longest-range airborne early warning aircraft of the Chinese Air Force.
At the same time, the DPRK also has a number of Il-76s, and according to previously published information, the DPRK has also painted one of the Il-76s in camouflage, with the possibility of some modification of it. This suggests that North Korea is also trying to improve its military capabilities and may have AWACS-like technology.
However, it remains to be seen whether North Korea has actually introduced an AWACS aircraft similar to the Air Police-2000 and the development of its military capabilities.
According to the experts who answered the questions, in view of the fact that the DPRK has introduced relevant technology and developed its own "DPRK version of the Air Police-2000," the author believes that if the DPRK military really introduces early warning aircraft technology, it will not obtain it from China, but from Russia.
At present, the DPRK Air Force can be regarded as a "Russian-style" air force, and the most advanced fighter in service is the MiG-29 fighter that was introduced from the Soviet Union, in addition to the MiG-23 fighter, MiG-21 fighter, Su-25 attack plane, Su-7 fighter-bomber, and so on.
Considering the importance of the modern air force's systematic operations, the DPRK army will inevitably only be equipped with Russian-made early warning aircraft. However, China's AWACS technology integrates its own advanced technology, which is very different from the equipment system of the Russian or Soviet period. Therefore, the most suitable channel for the DPRK military to introduce relevant AWACS technology should be from Russia.
It is worth mentioning that the A-50 AWACS aircraft in service in Russia is also based on the Il-76 and improved, which shows that the Russian side does have this technology. In addition, the DPRK side has visited Russia to visit the production lines of Su-35 fighters and Su-57 stealth fighters, which shows that the DPRK and Russia have plans for in-depth cooperation in aviation technology.
Therefore, it is reasonable for the DPRK military to obtain AWACS aircraft technology from Russia.