KN-9 - 300-mm Artillery Rocket
On 04 May 2019, the DPRK launched a training firing of two types of large-caliber multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and tested a new short-range ballistic missile. Based on the available information, rocket expert Michael Elleman on 38north.org came to the conclusion that the fire was fired from two-caliber MLRS - 240 and 300 mm. The 240 mm rockets might have a firing range of 40-50 kilometers and a relatively small charge weighing about 45 kg. The MRLs with 300mm diameter might haveh a range of 90-200 km. In the USA they are known as KN-09. Their warhead is also small. For the first time these MLRS were tested in 2013, repeated tests passed in 2014 and 2016. KN-09 are installed on three-axle trucks equipped with two launch containers - four launch tubes per container.
North Korea launched two projectiles on the morning of 06 August 2019 from South Hwanghae province towards the Sea of Japan. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said both were presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles. North Korea's state-run media said Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of a new type of tactical guided missile. The "new-type tactical guided missiles," launched from the western area of North Korea, flew across the peninsula "over the capital area and the central inland region" to "precisely hit the targeted islet" in the sea off the east coast of the country, KCNA said. The report also said Kim praised the launch, saying it would send a warning to the joint US-South Korea military drills that are now underway. North Korea's latest missile launches were meant as a warning to Washington and Seoul over their joint war games, the North's leader Kim Jong Un said, according to state news agency KCNA.
Trump told reporters: "I think it's very much under control, very much under control." Trump added the missile launches did not violate any promises Kim had made to him. "They were short-range missiles," Trump said. "We never made an agreement on that. I have no problem. We'll see what happens. But these are short-range missiles."
North Korea launched two short-range projectiles towards the East Sea early 02 August 2019 from Youngheung in Hamgyongnam-do Province near North Korea's eastern city of Wonsan. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles reached an altitude of around 25 kilometers and flew some 220 kilometers recording a maximum flight speed of Mach 6.9, that's around 8,500 hundred kilometers an hour. North Korea launched the two short-range projectiles at around 2:59 AM and 3:23 AM, Korea time. They are the second launch in two days and third in just over a week.
Donald Trump said North Korea's missile launches are "very much under control". Trump downplayed the launches saying. he's not worried because they were short-range and in his words, "very standard." “We never made an agreement on that. I have no problem,” Trump said. “We’ll see what happens, but these are short-range missiles. They’re very standard.” US officials say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally promised Trump not to conduct longer-range missile or nuclear tests.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on 30 July 2019, less than a week after it launched somewhat larger KN-23 missiles near the same area. The two missiles were launched at 5:06 a.m. and 5:27 a.m. local time each near the DPRK's eastern city of Wonsan, traveling about 250 km at an altitude of some 30 km. North Korea said the test was of a "newly developed, large-caliber multiple-launch guided rocket system" -- an announcement that countered analysis by the South Korean military. Pyeongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency later released a report and photos of the test.
The photos are blurred in some parts but still, the weapon in these photos looks starkly different from the short-range missiles the North launched the previous week. In the more recent test, it is possible to see several launch tubes installed on a transporter erector launcher. It looks like a multiple rocket launcher, not a single missile launcher. Because the photo is blurred, it's difficult to compare this with the 300-millimeter multiple rocket launcher that the North already had. But it seemed this one has a bigger diameter at the bottom than the previous one. The North pixelated these photos so as not to reveal the weapon's exact traits.
The North's media said leader Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the test launch. They added that the system met its test requirements and proved its combat effectiveness. "Kim Jong-un said the test launch was outstanding and that this should be a worrisome reminder to those who might fall into our crosshairs."
What the North says it fired -- a multiple launch guided rocket system -- is not what the South Korean military said it was on the day of the launch. They said the regime had fired short-range ballistic missiles, and despite the new photos, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff stuck by their original analysis. The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the U.S. saw that the projectiles had flight characteristics similar to the new type of short-range ballistic missiles fired the previous week.
Large multiple rocket launcher [MRLs] and short-range ballistic missiles have similar ranges and trajectories, and therefore the distinction is semantic, and it is a distinction without a difference. In this instance, the semantic dispute may have been with reference to whether the missiles being tested were 300mm artillery rockets or 450mm short range ballistic missiles.
KN-09 300-mm Artillery Rocket
North Korea was believed to have been developing a 300mm-caliber multiple rocket launcher capable of flying up to 200 kilometers. The KN-09 Artillery Rocket was initially believed to be a copy of the Chinese 273mm PHL03, which itself is a copy of the Russian 300mm BM-30 Smerch [with a range of 90 km]. But these rockets tested in mid-2019 were evidently rather larger than the KN-09, which evidently has twice the range of the BM-30.
The DPRK fired three short-range projectiles from the southeastern region toward its eastern waters on 27 June 2014. The projectiles, which flew about 190 km, were not exactly in line with any weapons, which South Korea claimed the DPRK had. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated those might be 300- milimeter multiple-rocket launchers termed by South Korea as KN-09 with a range of 150-160 km or its modified version. The spokesman said the projectiles may be a newly developed weapon for the DPRK's part, but he said it was in a par with weapons already developed by other countries. He added the flying range of such weapons kept rising gradually.
The DPRK's official KCNA news agency said that top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un "guided" the test-launch of newly developed tactical guided missiles, indicating Thursday's projectiles were the guided missiles.
If those projectiles were fired from the modified multiple- rocket launchers, it would pose a great threat to South Korea. Those projectiles, which flew 190 km, can directly strike the headquarters of South Korea's Army, Navy and Air Forces located some 130 km south of Seoul. The Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), which Seoul has sought to build up to intercept ballistic missiles from the DPRK, could not shoot down those short-range projectiles as the KAMD is a defense system for missiles.
The DPRK fired 90 short- and medium-range missiles and projectiles, including 300mm multiple-rocket launchers, Scud and Rodong missiles as well as FROG surface-to-surface missiles, from 21 February 2014 to 26 March 2014 in protest against the joint military drills between Sourth Korea and the USA.
"The North fired off three short-range projectiles using a 240 mm multiple rocket launcher at around 6 a.m. from Wonsan on its southeastern coast," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said 04 March 2014. They flew about 55 kilometers in a northeasterly direction. "Around 4:17 p.m., the North fired four more projectiles from an area near Wonsan, again in a northeasterly direction, and they flew around 155 kilometers," Kim said.
The ministry speculated that they could have been a new KN-09 launcher firing 300-milimeter rockets with a maximum range of about 180 kilometers. As the KN-09 can fire several missiles in short succession, the launcher is seen as a serious threat to South Korean and US troops, including US bases in Pyeongtaek and Osan, located some 160 kilometers from the demilitarized zone.
North Korea continues to develop its nuclear program: a large-caliber multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) may be deployed late in 2016, having completed the development of the weapon, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said 06 April 2016. In March 2016, Pyongyang announced that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had inspected the final test fire of the 300-millimeter caliber rockets, which are equipped with an accurate guidance system, according to the Yonhap news agency.
"Recently, North Korea test-fired the system several times, through which, I believe, it has nearly completed the development… Under this assessment, I think North Korea will deploy the 300-mm MLRS as early as at the end of this year," Han told reporters.
In March, the South Korean National Defense Ministry said in its strategy that it was planning to develop ground-to-ground guided munitions in a response to threats posed by the North's MLRS.
On 19 December 2023, a ceremony to transfer “student” MLRS to the KPA took place in Pyongyang. In the DPRK, there is quite a practice of helping the army at the expense of various organizations. In this case, the Socialist Union of Patriotic Youth. As can be seen from the published materials, this was the next version of the famous 240-mm model 1992 with 22 guides, but on a chassis with higher cross-country ability. The maximum range of the longest-range missile versions for this system reaches 70 km. Recently, mass production of high-precision guided missiles has also been established.
The North Korean military's KN-09 is a large diameter 240mm copy of the former Soviet-made BM-24. It began to be deployed in the 1980s using the 170mm Goksan-type self-propelled howitzer and formed the so-called long- range artillery to act as a threat, and it can be said to be a weapon that is the reason for North Korea's loud shouting about Seoul's sea of fire.
The model names are divided into M-1985/1989/1991 according to the ROK-US Combined Forces Command classification code. Only about 100 of the M-1985/1989, which are the initial models, are in operation and storage, and in fact appear to have retired to the second-class rank along with the BM-24. The M-1991, with about 430 units in operation, is used as the main force in the multiple artillery brigade (MRL) of the All-Yeon Corps.
Thanks to the existence of this multiple rocket launcher, the development of the K-239 Cheonmu of the ROK Armed Forces was hastened and it was also the reason why the M270 MLRS was actively introduced into the corps artillery. In addition , it can be said to be an item that is being watched more closely as a key target in large- scale warfare than the 170mm Koksan-type self-propelled howitzer.
However, because it is one of the pieces of equipment that invested everything only in extending the range, it is evaluated as having weak firepower compared to its caliber, so the North Korean military invested in developing the KN-09, a 300mm multiple rocket launcher , or unreasonably increased the extension of the rocket. It is estimated. Currently, the 300mm KN-09 has appeared, but in reality, the main large- diameter multiple launch rocket equipped by the North Korean military is still 240mm.
June 07, 2023
0:16 ust months after leader Kim Jong-un
showered a major North Korean Youth
0:19
Organization with gifts the North's
0:21
Korean children's Union or KCU has now
0:25
given back
Multiple rocket launchers
0:27
but the nature of Their donation might
0:30
surprise you multiple rocket launchers
0:34
the offering was made at a ceremony held
0:36
in Pyongyang Tuesday in line with the
0:39
77th anniversary of the kcu's founding
0:42
according to North Korean State media
0:44
and the donated rocket launchers were
0:47
sent to North Korean military units
0:49
right after the ceremony although no
0:51
details were provided on the weapon
0:53
systems what we do know is that they
0:56
were given a rather innocent sounding
0:58
name
0:59
sonian which would refer to a young boy
1:02
or young people in Korean and as we can
The kids
1:06
see in images and footage of the
1:08
celebrations of the kcus 77th
1:11
anniversary event these really are just
1:14
children mostly keeping their faces
1:17
masked and wearing the kcus iconic red
1:21
neckerchiefs these kids looked on as
1:23
they supported their teams at a June 6
1:25
athletic competition in Pyongyang they
1:28
ran alongside older counterparts too
1:30
which was fitting given how long the
1:33
kcu's been running and they lined up in
1:36
perfect order alongside their gifts that
1:39
could cause so much destruction
Kims letter
1:42
it might seem like an odd and even
1:45
disturbing scene but it does fit The
1:49
Wider narrative
1:50
late last year State media also reported
1:53
on how leader Kim had called on the KCU
1:56
in a letter to nurture their hatred for
1:59
American people albeit using a word a
2:03
lot less polite than people and as he
2:06
did so he asked them to help build
2:08
weapons the KCU may be for children aged
2:12
7 to 14 but there are reportedly around
2:14
3 million of them and they are seen as
2:17
the future of the nation's military
2:18
might and self-reliant Spirit they are
Loyalty
2:21
also viewed as key carriers of North
2:24
Korean loyalty to the leader at the
2:27
start of the Year Kim Jong-un was
2:28
surrounded by members of the KCU which
2:31
had convened a congress in Pyongyang for
2:33
the first time in five years and the
2:35
affection he showered thousands of them
2:37
with included Japanese watches valued at
2:41
close to 80 each the KCU showed their
2:45
own love with the multiple rocket
2:46
launchers having completed a nationwide
2:49
campaign that began on May 18th to relay
2:52
a letter of loyalty to their leader in
2:55
other words this looks like loyalty that
2:58
is both carefully fostered and
3:00
choreographed to ensure that North
3:03
Korean kids for whom KCU membership is
3:06
compulsory grow up to also be loyal and
3:09
effective adult subjects
3:24
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3:30
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A North Korean state youth organization has donated multiple rocket launchers to the country's military on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the organization's founding, state media said Wednesday.
The Korean Children's Union (KCU) made the donations at a ceremony Tuesday in Pyongyang after taking part in a labor movement designed to help secure the weapons, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The labor movement is known to be staged to raise funds for the North Korean military by utilizing child and female labor to harvest medicinal herbs and collect leftover crops and scrap iron.
The donated rocket launchers were named "Sonyeon," which means a boy in Korean, and were sent to the country's military units after the ceremony, KCNA said. It did not specify details on the weapon systems.
The KCU, founded in 1946, is a youth organization composed of children aged 7 to 14. The number of its members, known for wearing red neckerchiefs, is presumed to have reached some three million.
The choice to name the rocket launchers “Sonyeon,” meaning “boy” in Korean, reflects the gender-inclusive nature of the youth group, which comprises both boys and girls.
The donation ceremony, attended by senior officials of the ruling party, showcased the regime’s support and endorsement of the youth group’s actions. However, the report did not provide details about how the funds for the military equipment were raised, leaving the source of financing undisclosed.
KN-09 Cruise Missile
The designation KN-09 is a bit confusing. North Korea has a new generations of artillery, and some reporting suggests that the KN-09 is an artillery rocket, not the Kh-35 anti-ship cruise missile. The Kh-35E (also known as 3M-24E) was received from Russia in the 1990s. The North Korean Kh-35 differs from the original Russian Kh-35. Most notably, the canisters have been extensively modified compared to the original Uran-E launcher.
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