Artillery of the Korean People’s Army. Part of 3. Reactive systems
At present, the units have been decommissioned by the KPA, and their chassis, the American Studebakers, have long been out of order, but thrifty North Koreans have installed rails on a four-wheel trailer, which allows them to be towed by any truck or tractor. These launchers are transferred to the RKKG.
In addition, according to some sources, the Soviet Union delivered during the war captured German jet mortars - the famous Nebelwerfer. True, who they used, the KPA or the Chinese volunteers, I do not know.
Deliveries of jet systems from the USSR continued after the end of the war. 1955 to 1956 Two hundred 200-mm BMD-20 were delivered - long-range 200-mm combat vehicles of the Storm-20 MD-1 volley fire system, which are still in service with the KPA.
With part of the BMD-20 guides, the North Koreans acted in the same way as with the BM-13 guides, installed them on the 4 wheeled trailer. Similar installations are transferred to RKKG.
Between 1956 and 1959 Two hundred 240-mm BM-24 multiple launch rocket launchers with a maximum range of 17500 meters were delivered. Currently, BM-24 are being removed from service and transferred to the RKKG.
In 60, 107-type 12 63-type 8500-mm jet systems with a maximum range of 63 meters began to be delivered. The North Koreans liked the 75 type so much that they began their own production under the designation XNUMX Type under license.
And also began to install it on different chassis, getting a light mobile salvo fire system. Currently, the MLRS "Type 75" is installed:
- 20-trunnion version for North Korean Sungri-61NA trucks. This option is used mainly in the RKKG.
And there is a variant with MANPADS:
- On the North Korean-made floating wheeled armored vehicle "M-1992" with the number of barrels increased to 24-x. I can hardly imagine the tactics of their use. And the better it is to install on a simple (and inexpensive) truck, let it be and all-terrain? No, booking, of course, is useful, and from fragments at counter-battery shooting like the middle of the last century will save, but still? Moreover, I doubt the ability of the machine to float - a highly located installation can also tumble the machine in the water ...
- On the Sinhun VTT-323 armored personnel carrier with the installation of a reactive system with 18 trunks. However, the use of an armored all-terrain floating chassis causes, I confess, some confusion. In the attack, they are going to go on such machines, or what? No, in principle, with the proper skill of the crew, they can play the same role as the American Calliope - the fire suppression of suddenly revealed threats, but the “non-tank” chassis leaves the issue of the security of the installation in this application open. A look at the car from above does not add clarity. A huge turning circle is visible, almost on the edge of which the MLRS is placed. What could it be? Either in this way they disposed of something unfortunate with a large tower, or they are still going to attack, and they need a turning circle so that when the PU turns to the required azimuth, the PCs exhaust stream still goes past the hull. In principle, of course, is also a decision, but I am inclined to the option of recycling the chassis from something that did not go into the series.
1965 to 1966 100 16-140-mm 14-mm multiple launch rocket launcher system BM-XNUMX was supplied from the USSR.
The first 70-mm 122-barreled combat vehicles BM-40 "Grad" arrived from the USSR in 21-s, on the basis of which the North Koreans developed their own family of combat vehicles.
The BM-1973, the 11-barrel version of the BM-30 Grad, in which 21 trunks are divided into 30 units by 2, became the first MLRS.
The car was produced on many chassis ZIS-151, Chinese copy ZIL-157-FAW Jiefang CA-30 (in the top photo), Japanese Isuzu HTW 11, produced in the DPRK.
MLRS was actively exported to different countries of the world and "smelled gunpowder":
On the Isuzu HTW 11 chassis, it was supplied to either the Palestinian PLO units or the Syrians and participated in the Lebanese War 1982 of the year.
Several trophy hit in Israel:
Trophy North Korean MLRS BM-11 at the 1982 trophy show in Israel
It was also delivered to Iran, where it participated in the Iran-Iraq war. Some of them are still in service with the Iranian army.
Delivered and MLRS in Libya, where she took and may take part in the Civil War.
There is another version of the BM-11 on the chassis ZIS-151, where the 30 trunks are arranged in rows, and not divided into two packages.
Since the end of 80, the North Koreans have upgraded the BM-21 Grad by installing it on the extended base of the Isuzu HTW 11 truck, which has a rack on the 40 rocket between the cabin and the pack of guides, that is, on one reload, like the Czechoslovak RSZO RM- 70, Belarusian "BelGrad" and Chinese "Type 90". Moreover, the trunks were again divided into two blocks, 20 trunks in each.
Apparently, this particular variant of the MLRS is the main one in the KPA.
There is no limit to perfection, and at the next parade, the North Koreans demonstrated a variant on the new cross-country chassis 8х8, called "M-1992" on the truck chassis, similar to "Tatra 813".
The DPRK once again shared its technology with Iran, where a similar MLRS HM-20 was soon created on the MAN 26.372 chassis, but without an accelerated reloading system.
19 April 2012 of the year North Koreans demonstrated at the next parade a variant with 12 guides already on the chassis of the Sinhun VTT-323 tracked armored personnel carrier.
Most likely, we have before us the functional analogue of our TOC-1 "Buratino" - a direct-fire machine for firing on the battlefield. The caliber, though disappointed - apparently, there are the usual 122 millimeters, and the pipes of the whole 12 (apparently, if more, refuses to float), but if we consider direct fire, where the dispersion does not have time to play a big role, it will not seem to anyone . Especially if the whole battery starts firing. What is interesting: loading is provided in battle, for which there is a large hatch, from which the missiles are sent to the launch. I believe that inside the car no more than one dozen missiles - to the second salvo. How many of these machines in service with the North Korean army - as usual, is unknown. But I suppose that is hardly a lot. If we estimate the number of types of military equipment that they have already shown (and realizing that far from all of them showed), then there cannot be a lot of each kind. North Koreans are not enough. But this machine, I confess, is very interesting.
But the most "exotic" is certainly the installation of a package of 18 mm 122 guides on a biaxial tractor-trailer platform, with seats for 4 crew members. True, this system is in service with the RKKG.
In 1984, the 240-mm 12-barrel MLRS "M-1985" was created with a maximum range of 43 km.
MLRS was shipped to Iran and participated in the Iran-Iraq war.
Already in 1990-ies in Iran, they started mass production of this MLRS on the basis of trucks produced in the country called Fajr-3.
Its further development was the MLRS "M 1989" on the chassis of the Chinese truck Shaanqi SX2150.
In 90, the “M 1985” variant was created, which already has an 22 trunk on the chassis of a truck similar to Romanian ROMAN.
In the press they write about the 240-mm MLRS variant with 18 guides and even about the 300-mm North Korean MLRS, analogue of the Smerch BM-30, but there are no photo and video testimonials of their presence.
It is believed that the North Korean military industrial complex produces all 8 types of multiple launch rocket systems. Their number is estimated at 2,5 thousand rocket artillery combat vehicles (with missiles 107, 130, 122, 200 and 240 mm Chinese, Soviet and domestic samples), several thousand 107-mm and some 140-mm rocket launchers.
A few North Korean videos:
In the end, a little gossip ...
On the materials of the sites:
http://forums.airbase.ru/
http://www.militaryphotos.net/
http://www.militaryparitet.com/
http://shushpanzer-ru.livejournal.com/
http://strangernn.livejournal.com/
http://spioenkop.blogspot.ru
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