The Financial Times has reported that North Korea has sent Russia around 50 M1989 Koksan self-propelled howitzers and 20 multiple-launch rocket systems, some of which have been deployed to Kursk Oblast.
Source: Financial Times with reference to Ukrainian intelligence
Details: The newspaper said, citing a Ukrainian intelligence report, that in recent weeks the DPRK has provided Russia with about 50 North Korean-made 170mm M1989 self-propelled howitzers and 20 upgraded 240mm multiple-launch rocket systems that can fire both standard and guided rockets.
It said Ukrainian officials provided information about the weapons after a photo showing North Korean howitzers began circulating on social media this week. The photograph, which open-source analysts were able to georeference to the Krasnoyarsk Krai in central Russia, showed several howitzers covered in camouflage netting being transported by rail westward.
These heavy weapons systems can fire projectiles up to 60 km away. The M1989 howitzers, produced in 1989, are slightly upgraded versions of the original M1979 models, first produced in the late 1970s, which Pyongyang supplied to Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War.
The upgraded rocket system is based on the Soviet BM-27 Uragan (Hurricane) system, a self-propelled 220mm multiple-launch rocket system designed to deliver cluster munitions. In May, North Korea said it had successfully tested an updated system with precision-guided munitions.
A senior Ukrainian official told the FT that Pyongyang now wants to test the weapon in combat. Kyiv expects it to be used against Ukrainian forces, which currently hold about 600 sq km of territory in Russia's Kursk Oblast.
Background: In a report on 14 November, the Institute for the Study of War reported, citing Russian sources, that North Korea may have provided Russia with North Korean-made M1989 Koksan 170mm self-propelled howitzers. Russian bloggers posted photos of a train carrying what is believed to be North Korean 170mm M1989 Koksan self-propelled howitzers in Krasnoyarsk.
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