Philippine Army to receive K136 Kooryong MLRS from South Korea.

On its Facebook page, the Philippine Army announced its Artillery Regiment recently celebrated its 13th founding anniversary. Among the various devices displayed was the mock-up for the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) locally made using a modified U.S.-made M39 truck.

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Mock-up of the K136 Kooryong MLRS locally made using a modified U.S.-made M39 truck (Picture source: Philippine Army)

The Philippine Army is expected to receive at least 3 batteries of used K136 Kooryong MLRS from South Korea, and the Philippine Army has requested Php1.9 billion for repairs and refurbishing, logistics to bring the launchers and munitions home to the Philippines, and for building the needed facilities to store the rocket munitions in a controlled environment. Because of the huge amount needed, the project was escalated now as part of the 2nd List of Horizon 2, from being just a normal project of the Philippine Army. So far, the government has not released funding yet, although it was earmarked for FY2020.

The K136 Kooryong is an MLRS that was deployed from 1986. The multiple rocket launcher has 36 tubes and fires 130mm(K30) or131mm(K33) rockets. The payload is conventional High explosive and pre-fragmented HE, containing 16 000 steel balls at a range of 22 or 30 km. In South Korea, the launcher is carried on a KM809A1 6x6 truck. About 150 units were built.

Notice that the 13th anniversary of the Philippine Artillery Regiment, thus a “young” one, has an organizational explanation: previously, artillery battalions were controlled and attached to infantry divisions. Present composition of the Army Artillery (Rex Belli) Regiment (AAR):
1st Field Artillery Battalion
2nd Field Artillery Battalion
3rd Field Artillery Battalion
4th Field Artillery Battalion
5th Field Artillery Battalion
6th Field Artillery Battalion
7th Field Artillery Battalion
8th Field Artillery Battalion
9th Field Artillery Battalion
1st Multiple Launch Rocket System Battery (1MLRS Btry)
2nd Multiple Launch Rocket System Battery (2MLRS Btry)
1st Land-based Missile System Battery (1LBMS Btry)
1st Field Artillery (155mm Self-Propelled) Battery
2nd Field Artillery (155mm Self-Propelled) Battery
1st Air Defense Artillery Battery (1ADA Btry)
2nd Air Defense Artillery Battery (2ADA Btry)