[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Why North Korea Is Sensitive to 'Vigilant Storm'

This Year's Training Involves Over 240 Aircraft Including F-35B, the Largest Scale Ever
Stealth Jets and Growler Deployed to Neutralize Pyongyang Air Defense System

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] South Korea and the United States have decided to extend the duration of the joint air exercise ‘Vigilant Storm’ in response to North Korean provocations. This signifies a demonstration of deterrence, as North Korea is highly sensitive to the Vigilant Storm exercise. The reason North Korea is sensitive to the Vigilant Storm exercise lies in its scale and combat power.

According to the Air Force, this year’s Vigilant Storm is a large-scale exercise involving about 140 aircraft from the South Korean Air Force, including F-35A, F-15K, KF-16 fighters, and KC-330 aerial refueling tankers, and about 100 aircraft from the U.S. military, including F-35B fighters, EA-18 electronic warfare aircraft (Growler), U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance planes, and KC-135 aerial refueling tankers, totaling approximately 240 aircraft. The F-35B stealth fighters stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps base in Iwakuni, Japan, landed at a domestic base for the first time to participate in the exercise, and the Royal Australian Air Force also joined the ROK-U.S. joint exercise for the first time, deploying one KC-30A aerial refueling tanker.

Compared to the joint air exercise held last December, which involved about 90 South Korean air assets and about 60 U.S. Air Force assets, the scale has somewhat expanded. Earlier, in the joint air exercise in April this year, about 50 South Korean aircraft and about 20 U.S. aircraft participated.

Beyond the scale, the combat power deployed in the exercise is formidable. The aircraft type that North Korea is most sensitive about is the latest stealth fighter, the F-35. North Korea has repeatedly harshly criticized the South Korean military’s acquisition of the F-35A, calling it ‘military power enhancement provocations’ and ‘advanced offensive weapons.’

The reason North Korea is so sensitive about the F-35 stealth fighter is primarily because it is difficult to detect by radar. The performance gap between stealth and non-stealth aircraft is significant. Stealth aircraft are very difficult to identify with existing detection equipment such as radar, infrared detectors, and acoustic sensors. They can precisely strike targets covertly without being detected by enemy air defense networks. For example, the radar cross-section (RCS) of the F-22 is about the size of a 10-won coin (1 cm²), and the F-35 is about the size of a ping-pong ball (10 cm²). This means that North Korean radar can only detect the F-35 within 30 km and the F-22 within 10 km. Given North Korea’s limited detection assets, it is understandable why they react sensitively.

The EA-18 electronic warfare aircraft is another type that North Korea fears. Possessing electronic warfare attack aircraft alone significantly enhances a country’s combat power, making it a strategic offensive weapon. It was operationalized at the end of 2009 and participated in the 2011 March Libya airstrike operation, Operation Odyssey Dawn, proving its capabilities.

The EA-18 electronic warfare aircraft is sufficient to neutralize North Korea’s ‘spider web’ air defense network. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has also evaluated North Korea’s air defense density as among the highest in the world. North Korea is known to have established a quadruple-layered air defense system around Pyongyang to counter ROK-U.S. joint air forces. North Korea’s surface-to-air missiles are estimated to include about 40 SA-5 (Gammon, high altitude, max range 260?300 km), about 140 SA-3 (Goa, low to medium altitude, max range 13?35 km), and about 180 SA-2 (Guideline, medium to high altitude, max range 48 km).

On the other hand, North Korea’s air force is currently assessed to be significantly inferior to the South Korean military. North Korea possesses aging Su-25, MiG-19, 21, 23, and 29 aircraft, but there is a performance gap compared to South Korea’s F-15K and KF-16 fighters. Moreover, with South Korea’s possession of the F-35A stealth fighter, North Korea finds it impossible to respond effectively with its relatively inferior air power, leading it to supplement its forces through various means to create new threats from the perspective of ‘balance of power.’

North Korea announced last month that it conducted training involving 150 fighters, but in reality, it was only about 40 aircraft, and there were reports of crashed fighters. According to the Defense White Paper, North Korea’s air force possesses about 800 fighters, but their aging is severe. Last month, North Korea released training photos, but black smoke was visible from some aircraft, raising suspicions about engine aging as well.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.