- 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. 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).
The Tŏkch’ŏn series (named after a city in South Pyongan province where it was constructed) was the first major series of indigenous North Korean SPGs. It essentially took the chassis of the Soviet ATS-59 artillery tractor and added multiple types of high-calibre cannons, resulting in a number of different variants. The one I’m suggesting here was one of the first versions, first produced in 1974.
Characteristics
The M1974 Tŏkch’ŏn mounts a Soviet 152mm D-20 on the aformentioned ATS-59 chassis, in an open-top design. The 152mm D-20 fires HE and HEAT rounds at 655m/s; it would probably perform very similarly to the ISU-152s 152mm ML-20S rounds which are fired at the same velocity. The 152mm D-20 has a slightly higher rate of fire than the 152mm ML-20S, at 5-6rpm vs 3-4rpm, which would result in a reload of ~10-15s instead of ~27s (SU-152).
The chassis remains largely unmodified, and I doubt the engine was changed, so it should still be a 300hp engine, reaching a top speed of 45km/h (although how the heavy 152mm affects speed, I’m unsure).
The armour is poor, only thin plates surrounding the gun, probably <15mm across the whole vehicle, although this is unknown.
Conclusion
This vehicle would be a great early indigenous SPG for a North Korean sub-tree. It would have similar gun performance and mobility to the ISU-152 at 4.7 (but faster reload), but none of the armour, so I think a BR of ~4.0-4.3 would be suitable.
Specifications
Armament
- 152mm D-20
- OF-96 (?) HE
- BP-540 HEAT
- 250mm at 0º at 10m
- 655 m/s
- 5-6 rpm
Armour
- Hull
- Front
- Unknown, thin
- Sides
- Unknown, thin
- Rear
- Unknown, thin
- Front
- Turret
- Front
- Unknown, thin
- Sides
- Unknown, thin
- Rear
- Unknown, thin
- Front
Mobility
- Speed
- 45km/h
- Weight
- ~19t (13t + ~5.7t [weight of cannon])
- Engine power
- 300hp
Images
Sources