Moscow turns to North Korea for artillery reinforcements as war effort intensifies

Defense Express reports.

A social media photo shows at least one North Korean M-1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery piece transported by rail, likely already on Russian territory. 

For context, North Korea primarily uses the European rail gauge of 1435 mm, but the border crossings with Russia have dual-gauge tracks to accommodate both the European 1435 mm and the Russian standard 1520 mm. Therefore, the Koksan in the image is likely being transported on Russian rail equipment.

A single photo does not confirm the extent of potential deliveries of these artillery units to Russia, and no reliable estimate exists of North Korea's available stock of M-1989 Koksan units.

Notably, in mid-October 2024, reports suggested that Russian forces began training with unidentified North Korean artillery at the Saratov Artillery Command School, indicating possible early familiarization with North Korean systems.

This suggests that Russian forces may now be closer to operational readiness with this North Korean artillery.

At this stage, the main fact is that Russia has started receiving M-1989 Koksan units. Key characteristics of the Koksan include a firing range of up to 40 km with standard shells and 60 km with rocket-assisted shells, a rate of fire of 2 rounds every 5 minutes, and a 170 mm caliber, which is non-standard for Russia.

This raises the question of which Russian artillery units might receive the Koksan. Existing large-caliber systems, such as the 2S7 Pion and 2S4 Tyulpan, are in heavy artillery brigades intended for fortified targets and NATO-standard artillery.

The Koksan's acquisition might not only indicate issues with Russia’s existing 203 mm Pion inventory but could also serve to enhance Russia’s counter-battery capabilities against NATO-standard artillery systems used by Ukrainian forces.