The Russian Federation began to strengthen its artillery. Currently, the occupiers are transporting Koksan self-propelled guns from the DPRK by rail.
Points of attention
- North Korea has begun supplying Koksan artillery systems to Russia, strengthening Russia's artillery capabilities.
- The Koksan artillery system has a firing range of up to 60 km, surpassing many existing Russian artillery systems.
- The transfer of Koksan artillery systems to Russia has caused international outcry and heightened tensions in the region.
- Russian military personnel have started mastering the North Korean self-propelled guns, indicating the potential deployment of these weapons.
- The M1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery system, developed in North Korea in 1989, poses unique capabilities with its caliber and firing range.
North Korea supplies Koksan artillery systems to Russia
A photo of the transportation of at least one M-1989 Koksan type self-propelled artillery installation of the DPRK, which is most likely already taking place on the territory of Russia, appeared on social networks.
The picture alone does not allow us to judge at this time the scale of the possible transfer of such self-propelled guns to the Russian troops. Although the approximate number of M-1989 Koksan available to the North Korean regime is not known.
However, in mid-October, the Russian military announced that it had begun mastering North Korean self-propelled guns of an unnamed type at the base of the Higher Artillery Command School (VAKU) in Saratov.
That is, with a certain probability, the military of the Russian Federation could by this time have already passed the stage of "initial familiarization" with the artillery of their "colleagues" in the DPRK, and therefore may be quite close to being ready to use such weapons in practice.
Characteristics of Koksan self-propelled guns
Koksan ACS has the following characteristics:
the firing range is up to 40 km if a standard projectile is used, up to 60 km if an active-reactive projectile is used,
rate of fire — 2 shots per 5 minutes,
caliber 170 mm (non-standard as for the Russian army).
This range significantly exceeds the capabilities of all Russian barrel artillery, which can be compared only with the Soviet 203-mm 2C7 "Pion" cannon with active-reactive projectiles.
M1989 Koksan is the conventional name of the North Korean 40-ton self-propelled artillery system, which was first seen at a parade in the city of Koksan in 1989. It is a development of the M1978 installation, which was developed back in the 1970s.
