Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries. The document guarantees mutual assistance in the event of external military aggression against the signatory states. Military expert Evgeny Damantsev discussed how Russia and North Korea can help each other.
Russia can provide military-technical support to North Korea in the event of an escalation on the Korean Peninsula, where Pyongyang's main adversaries are South Korea, Japan, and the United States. In turn, North Korea is capable of supporting Moscow in the event of a conflict between Russia and NATO.
Now it is worth considering the tactical and technical "advantages" that the Russian Armed Forces and the KPA acquire as a result of the current cooperation.
According to him, the weak side of North Korea is its tactical aviation fleet. This includes MiG-21 and MiG-23ML aircraft, Q-5 and Su-25K attack aircraft, as well as MiG-29 fighters. They are equipped with outdated weapon control systems and radars. Given this, the Korean Air Force has no chance of successful battles with the F-16C/D and F-15K of the South Korean Air Force.
Russia can provide North Korea with modern tactical aviation, including the MiG-29SMT, MiG-35, as well as the Su-35S, capable of countering the F/A-18E/F carrier-based fighters of the US Navy and the South Korean F-15K.
North Korea also does not have a powerful fleet, shipborne SAMs, and torpedo weapons, he added.
However, North Korea still has one trump card - the unique KN-25 MLRS (600-mm caliber), whose guided rockets can cover enemy targets at a distance of up to 380 km. This is twice the range of the 300-mm "Tornado-S", Damantsev summarized.
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