North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “deeply impressed” with Russia’s fighter jet production capacity and believes they can help “overwhelm” external threats to the Kremlin, DPRK state media on Saturday.

Kim made his remarks during a tour of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur airplane factory a day prior, where he also observed a test flight of a Su-35 fighter aircraft. The factory’s “abundant self-reliant potential, modernity, and proactive efforts to achieve new goals” reportedly left a “deep impression” on the DPRK leader.