North Korean ammunition fuels Russian firepower in Ukraine
The Russians can still wage war in Ukraine primarily due to the assistance from North Korea. Here is how Kim's regime is supporting the Russians.
The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of ammunition. Due to the nature of this war, where both sides can effectively observe the situation several or even dozens of kilometres behind the front line using drones, artillery and aviation are playing key roles.
Artillery requires a continuous supply of shells, and during the most intense periods, the daily demand could exceed 10,000 shells. No country in the world is capable of producing such a volume continuously, and even the large ammunition stocks the Russians inherited after the collapse of the USSR have depleted over time.
In Ukraine, the entire West supplies ammunition, often purchasing additional supplies from unexpected sources such as pro-Russian Serbia or India, which is trying to maintain neutrality. Meanwhile, as reported by Bloomberg, Russia currently meets 60% of its needs with supplies from North Korea, and local ammunition production accounts for just 30%.
Iran is Russia's second foreign supplier, and it appears to be attempting to profit from the situation. Iran is expected to deliver only 10% of supplies and likely demands payment in gold or modern air defence systems, which it cannot produce, similar to the Shahed drones.
Bloomberg's estimates indicate that Russia has received from North Korea 8 million shells and rockets of 122 mm calibre, 152 mm calibre shells, and a hundred KN-23 / Hwasong-11 ballistic missiles along with anti-tank systems Bulsae.
Ammunition from North Korea — the only supplier with poor quality
122 mm and 152 mm calibre ammunition are standards used by Russia and North Korea, so if production parameters are maintained, there will be no problems with usage. Barrel artillery of this calibre allows targeting at distances of up to 15 km or about 20 km in the most popular Russian systems, such as 2S1 Gvozdika or 2S3 Akatsiya. Meanwhile, the range of 122 mm calibre rockets for BM-21 Grad systems is from 20 km to 40 km, depending on the type of rockets.
Additionally, North Korea also supplies Russia with 130 mm calibre shells, which, when used in field guns like the M-46, enable firing at distances up to 27 km for the cheapest shells or even up to 38 km for shells with an ERFB base bleed gas generator designed by China. However, it should be noted that the quality of North Korean ammunition is extremely low, a fact pointed out by the Russians themselves, and it often causes accidents.
Conversely, the KN-23 ballistic missiles are solid-fuel constructions conceptually similar to Iskander-M. The exact range is unknown, but estimates suggest over 600 km while carrying a powerful 500 kg warhead. Their guidance is likely based on inertial navigation, possibly supported by satellite.
Interestingly, their production uses bearings installed in Toyota cars, but the quality of these missiles is not high. There have already been instances in Ukraine of them exploding in flight long before reaching their estimated targets. Nevertheless, they pose a significant problem because Ukraine faces large shortages of weapons capable of countering ballistic missiles, such as the Patriot, SAMP/T, and, with certain limitations, the MIM-23 HAWK.
