Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had overseen live-fire drills involving “newly-equipped super-large” caliber multiple rocket launchers, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on March 19.
KCNA said that the live-fire drills were aimed at testing the “real war capabilities” of the multiple rocket launchers. The exercises also involved simulating an aerial explosion of a shell at a predetermined altitude above the target, according to the news agency.
“They fully demonstrated their excellent crack-shot artillery marksmanship and prompt and thorough combat readiness,” KCNA said.
Kim told North Korean troops during the drills that the rocket launchers would provide the “core central striking means” in war preparations.
“The destructive offensive means possessed by our army should more thoroughly fulfill their missions to block and suppress the possibility of war with the constant perfect preparedness to collapse the capital of the enemy and the structure of its military forces,” KCNA quoted the leader as saying.
The military of South Korea announced on March 18 that it had detected the launch of “multiple short-range ballistic missiles” from the North.
Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
The super-large multiple rocket launcher, referred to as KN-25 by South Korea and United States militaries, is a short-range ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
The missiles fired by the KN-25 are estimated to be 600 mm in diameter, 8.2 meters long, and weigh 3,000 kg. They are believed to be guided by a satellite-aided inertial navigation system with a range of around 380 kilometers and an accuracy of 80-90 meters.
KN-25 missiles can be mounted on either a four-tube Tatra 813 8×8 wheeled transporter erector launcher or a tracked chassis with 10 road wheels on each side carrying six tubes.
The live-fire drills involving the KN-25 was North Korea’s second this year after Pyongyang launched one it said was tipped with a maneuverable hypersonic warhead last January. Earlier this month, it also held a large-scale exercise involving its latest main battle tank, unofficially known as the M2020.
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