- Yes
- No
- North Korean 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 M2018 6x6 ATGM Carrier will have to do.
The vehicle is a derivative of North Korea’s 6x6 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. It is essentially a slightly shorter BTR-80 with the 2nd set of wheels removed, and was first revealed in 2010 along with their 8x8 APC (which formed the basis for another ATGM carrier). In 2018, it was first revealed as the basis for an NLOS ATGM carrier – this vehicle.
Characteristics
The ATGM variant of this APC mounts a new turret carrying 8 ATGMs. These are the Bulsae-4 NLOS ATGMs, a unique indigenous ATGM. It is possibly inspired by the Israeli SPIKE-NLOS, and Chinese HJ-10. It’s performance is unknown but it likely is similar to both of these, perhaps more similar to the Chinese HJ-10 than the Israeli missile given their closer political and military ties. The biggest issue is that NLOS weapons are not in the gane, and may very well never come to the game. They would allow players to control the ATGMs from a camera on the missile, being launched from behind cover and hitting targets across the map. 2 solutions to avoid this are a) add it as a regular SACLOS ATGM or b) add it as a F&F ATGM.
The vehicle has no secondary armament. It has LWRs and smoke grenade launchers on either side of the turret.
Everything else is unknown but it is highly likely the engine and general armour layout remain the same as the original 6x6 APC (and by extension, the BTRs on which they were derived from).
Conclusion
This vehicle would be a great top-tier ATGM carrier for a North Korean sub-tree . The BR depends on how the ATGMs are implemented – I could easily see 11.3+ if it is added with its actual NLOS capabilities, but otherwise a BR of 9.X or so works if they are regular SACLOS missiles, or 10.X if they are F&F missiles.
Specifications
Armament
- Bulsae-4
- .>750mm penetration
- 8x ATGMs in turret, likely 8x more in the hull
- NVDs/thermals
- Unsure on particular sights, pure conjecture
- Both SPIKE NLOS and HJ-10 have thermal sights so highly likely this does as well
Armour
- Hull
- Front
- ~9mm
- Sides
- ~9mm
- Rear
- ~9mm
- Front
- Turret
- Front
- ~9mm (Estimated)
- Sides
- ~9mm (Estimated)
- Rear
- ~9mm (Estimated)
- Front
Mobility
- Speed
- ~ +90/-14km/h
- Weight
- Unknown, likely similar to BTR-80A (14.6t)
- Engine power
- 260hp
Other
- Smoke grenades
- 2x Laser Warning Receivers
Images
Sources
Spoiler
북한판 스파이크 - 나무위키
https://bemil.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2022/02/17/2022021701906.html
North Korean M-2012 6x6 APC derived from BTR-80
Bulsae-4 M-2018 NLOS ATGM