KN-25 600 mm MLRS rocket launchers to be backbone of North Korean nuclear forces.
On January 1, 2023, the "NK Pro" North Korea Professional Research Platform announced that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK North Korea) seeks to make the KN-25, a mobile artillery system, as the backbone of the tactical nuclear forces of the North Korean armed forces. The KN-25 is categorized by the U.S. as an SRBM (Short-Range Ballistic Missile) able to carry a nuclear warhead.
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The KN-25 carries four tube launchers mounted on an 8x8 truck chassis. (Picture source www.sohu.com/a/546687167_594189)
The KN-25 is considered as one of the most powerful artillery systems able to launch laser-guided missiles as well as a short-range ballistic missiles. It is described as a super-caliber MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System).
The first firing tests of the KN-25 were conducted in 2019 and 2020. The first firing tests of the KN-25 missiles were conducted from a tracked chassis in a similar method to the tracked Pukguksong-2, KN-23, a North Korean solid-fueled tactical ballistic missile.
During the first flight tests, North Korea successfully launched two missiles from the country’s east coast into the Sea of Japan. Both missiles flew approximately 380 km and reached a maximum altitude of 97 km.
The KN-25 based on a tracked chassis is fitted with six launching tubes while a truck-mounted version of the system is also developed by the North Korean defense industry based on a modified TATRA T815 8x8 truck chassis with four tube launchers each carrying one missile.
The missile of the KN-25 has an estimated diameter of 600 mm and is approximately 8.2m long and weighs about 3 tons. The missile will have a range from 200 to 400 km. It is the largest MLRS in the world.
The missile is fitted with a conventional blast-fragmentation warhead but in October 2022, the KN-25 was included in a statement among other missiles North Korea claimed were part of its capability to deliver tactical nuclear weapons.
In September 2022, "Newsweek" magazine announced that North Korea could provide Russia with an artillery system such as the KN-25.
The first firing tests of the KN-25 missile were conducted from a tracked chassis vehicle. (Picture source KCNA.KP)
