- Yes
- No
- North Korea sub-tree in China
- United Korea tree
- Other
- I said no
Unknown official name
Brief History
North Korea has a surprisingly long history of tank and AFV production, with some of their most recent developments being very interesting. During the Korean War, and for a couple decades after, North Korea relied on Soviet hand-me-downs, namely T-34s and their derivatives, T-55s, etc. However, in the 70s, the DPRK started development of their first MBTs based on their copy of the T-62 (Ch’ŏnma), which have continually been upgraded to this day.
They haven’t just built MBTs, however. They have a number of other AFVs, such as SPGs and tank destroyers (conventional and ATGMs), which this vehicle is. This vehicle, as far as I’ve found, has no official name (not been released anyway), so 8x8 122mm APC will have to do.
The vehicle is a derivative of North Korea’s 8x8 APC, which is thought to be (highly) inspired by their Soviet BTR-80s, although some features may have been taken from their older BTR-60PBs. The 122mm fire-support variant of this APC was first spotted in 2020, during a parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Worker’s Party of Korea.
Characteristics
This variant of this APC mounts a new unmanned turret with what appears to be a 122m D-30 (modified with a fume extractor), as well as what appears to be an autoloader in the rear of the turret. This Soviet gun has access to a wide range of ammunition, including a HEAT-FS shell penetrating roughly 460-580mm. This 122mm was likely obtained from decommissioned M1977/M1985 122mm artillery platforms on the 323 APC chassis, as the length, muzzle brake, and counterweight match perfectly.
As secondary armament, the APC has a single AGS-30 30mm grenade launcher behind the commander’s hatch.
The vehicle appears to have the same gunner sight as the M2020 MBT, which implies thermal imaging. Some have speculated that this means it also has a laser rangefinder, but the laser rangefinder on the M2020 is external and not integrated into the gunner sight, so I find this unlikely.
This specific variant of the APC appears to have bolt-on add-on armour across the whole vehicle, likely providing a decent level of protection against HMGs, although to what extent is unknown. The vehicle also has some smoke grenades on the turret sides, as well as laser warning receivers above those.
The vehicle, strangely, has 4 crew members: commander (right front), driver (left front), gunner (left of the gun’s mount), and an unknown 4th crew member to the right of the gun mount, next to the grenade launcher. It’s unlikely that the 4th crew member would only be for firing the grenade launcher, but otherwise their purpose is unknown if the vehicle does indeed have an autoloader. They might replenish the ammunition in the autoloader, but this is speculative.
Conclusion
This would be a pretty unique vehicle for a North Korean sub-tree. It doesn’t really have any analogues in game – a fast wheeled chassis with an auto-loaded 122mm howitzer, firing high-penetration HEAT-FS, as well as thermals. Truthfully, I have no idea at what BR this could go, likely 7.3+.
Specifications
Armament
- 122mm D-30
- OF-462 HE
- 690m/s
- 30F56 HE
* 690m/s - BK-6M HEAT-FS
- 460-580mm, 740m/s
- BK-13 HEAT-FS
- OF-462 HE
- NVDs/thermals
- Autoloader
- AGS-30 30mm grenade launcher
Armour
- Hull
- Front
- Unknown, likely similar to BTR-80A (12mm) + extra unknown thickness
- Sides
- Unknown, likely similar to BTR-80A (8mm) + extra unknown thickness
- Rear
- Unknown, likely similar to BTR-80A (6mm) + extra unknown thickness
- Front
- Turret
- Front
- Unknown
- Sides
- Unknown
- Rear
- Unknown
- Front
Mobility
- Speed
- ~ +90/-14km/h
- Weight
- Unknown, likely similar to BTR-80A (14.6t) + extra weight of add-on armour
- Engine power
- 260hp
Other
- Smoke grenades
- 2x Laser Warning Receivers
Images
Sources