Artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine dropped cluster bombs on the heads of North Korean soldiers, – Forbes

One improved conventional dual-purpose munition releases 88 submunitions.

In the Kursk region, an attack by North Korean soldiers on the positions of the Ukrainian 17th Mechanized Brigade failed because the Ukrainians covered them with cluster munitions.

According to Forbes , drone footage of the North Korean offensive shows US-made cluster munitions, possibly Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) artillery shells, unfolding over the battlefield and scattering deadly grenade-sized submunitions.

It is reported that North Korean soldiers have suffered huge losses and the use of these cluster munitions is the main reason for this.

“Despite their effectiveness, the shells arrived late to the war. The US did not begin supplying Ukraine with surplus DPICM shells until the summer of 2023,” the publication detailed.

As the publication notes, although the use of these munitions is controversial, given the Russian Federation’s huge superiority in manpower and equipment, Ukraine without hesitation took the risks and began using DPICM.

According to US Army data provided by the Royal Joint Institute for Defence Research in London, it can take 14 standard 155mm shells and just 2 DPICM shells, each of which disperses 88 submunitions, to kill a single enemy soldier. The more lethal DPICM shells not only kill the enemy faster, they allow artillery batteries to fire fewer shells to achieve the same effect.

“The most significant factor” in Ukraine’s demand for DPICM “is the operational impact on Ukrainian artillery ammunition stocks and barrel life,” noted RUSI analysts Jack Watling and Justin Bronk.

“Since each barrel has a life of around 1,800 rounds, providing Ukraine with DPICM would mean it would have to fire fewer rounds for battlefield effect, allowing it to sustain the fight for significantly longer,” explained Wattling and Bronk.

“Ukrainian artillery, which is inferior in firepower, is still in action. And it fires shells that kill the enemy – both Russian and North Korean – at the rate of one soldier in two shots,” the publication stated.

(c)UNIAN 2024