Ekaterina Girnyk08:02, 01.12.24
As the analyst writes, they are superior to almost all artillery systems currently in service in Ukraine.
Russia lost at least 400 multiple launch rocket systems during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine , and while the Kremlin has reactivated many of the older launchers, they are not enough to replace battlefield losses or equip new units. That’s why Russia is counting on North Korean MLRS, writes Forbes analyst David Axe.
According to the head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation Andrey Kovalenko, the DPRK transferred 100 artillery systems to Russia, including M1989 self-propelled howitzers and M1991 rocket launchers, as well as millions of artillery shells and dozens of 7,500-pound KN-23 ballistic missiles.
The M1989 howitzer fires 170mm shells weighing 45 kilograms each to a range of at least 40 kilometers.
However, the M1991 is a powerful new addition to Russia’s artillery capabilities, writes Ax:
“Firing 240mm, 85-kilogram rockets up to 37 miles (60 kilometers), the M1991 is superior to almost all artillery systems in the Ukrainian arsenal. The exception is the U.S.-made, Ukrainian-made, high-mobility artillery rocket system.”
North Korea deploys these launchers along its border with South Korea. They are capable of firing at Seoul, which is exactly 37 miles from the border. However, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the M1991 launchers are “a key means by which North Korea endangers Seoul and South Korea.”
At the same time, in Russia’s arsenal, these launchers can hit Ukrainian trenches and return fire at howitzers and launchers of Ukraine itself.
In addition, Axe points out, they could hit frontline cities, including Kharkov, which is just 25 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border.
North Korea supplies artillery to Russia
Earlier it became known that North Korea sent Russia 50 self-propelled artillery units and 20 modernized MLRS. We are talking about the 170-mm M-1989 Koksan self-propelled guns, a train of which was previously spotted in Krasnoyarsk.
At the same time, ammunition for it is produced only by the industry of the DPRK. In Russia, domestic production of ammunition for most calibers has been established, but in the case of the M1989, this is impossible . Therefore, whether they will be used depends directly on Pyongyang.
(c)UNIAN 2024
We received a blast of hot air from the collective West when the norks got directly involved, but since then, the usual crickets took over the field.
We are so damned pathetic that the word pathetic is too weak to describe our piss poor performance all throughout this war!
How the fuck is it that the norks have weaponry of this power?
Unbelievable.
SK MUST now respond. Not just in kind, but with ALOT more.
SK is on the same lame train as the rest of the West. Talking the talk, but not walking the walk. Seoul is doing the same stupidity that has paralyzed us all along.
China supplies ruSSia via NK. Chinese weapons simply get korean labels before being shipped to NK. China must be boycotted and nuked to shit.
“Firing 240mm, 85-kilogram rockets up to 37 miles (60 kilometers), the M1991 is superior to almost all artillery systems in the Ukrainian arsenal. The exception is the U.S.-made, Ukrainian-made, high-mobility artillery rocket system.”
Distance is not the only strength of the HIMARS, but accuracy. I doubt the NK junk is very sophisticated in that regard. It will be interesting to see how these artillery systems fare when meeting up with Ukrainian debris. So far the orc artillery has come out of this battle, pretty much on the losing end.