North Korea's Bulsae tank destroyers bolster russian forces

North Korea has been supporting Russia with ammunition and spare parts supplies for over a year. However, it has now been revealed that Pyongyang has also provided Russia with military equipment such as Bulsae-wheeled tank destroyers. Here is what we know about these vehicles.

An image has surfaced online showing the new Russian vehicle in the Belgorod region. Ukrainian intelligence also reportedly spotted the mysterious enemy machine in the open. The design resembles one of the variants of the North Korean Bulsae. If these reports are confirmed, this would be the first instance of Pyongyang sending a combat vehicle to Ukraine.

Some commentators claim it is Bulsae-4, but according to Piotr Zbies, a columnist for "New Military Technology," it is a newer variant, Bulsae-6. This is the most likely case since the new system has been classified as NLOS (Non-Line-of-Sight Anti-Tank Guided Missile), which means it is a launcher for anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) that can engage targets beyond the line of sight.

For this reason, it is unlikely that the vehicle uses the 9M111 Fagot ATGM, which has a range of around 1 mile, but it is more likely that it uses some modified variant of the 9M133 Kornet, which has a range exceeding 6 miles.

The deliveries of complete weapon systems from North Korea show the collapse of the Russian defence industry, which cannot produce "modern" equipment in sufficient numbers. As a result, the Russians are turning to equipment produced by Iran and North Korea.

Besides deliveries of North Korean ammunition of poor quality, wheeled tank destroyers have also apparently appeared on the front, which will be much more effective than machines from the T-62 family or the T-54/55. This gives the Russians weapons with much greater range and significant firepower. For North Korea, deploying such vehicles in Ukraine is a practical test of their capabilities in real combat. It may raise international concerns that Pyongyang will become even bolder in supporting Russia.

The destroyer likely does not match the level of the Spike NLOS, with a range of 15 miles or more, but it certainly offers a better solution than Lancet drones with a modest warhead. In the case of the system based on Bulsae-6 missiles, the weapon can penetrate over 3 feet of armour steel, even after overcoming a single-layer reactive armour if it utilizes a warhead similar to that of the 9M133 Kornet.

It is worth noting that, for example, earlier versions of the Bulsae missiles are derivatives of Soviet or Russian solutions. For instance, Bulsae-3 is a 9M111 Fagot with a range of about 1 mile. Bulsae-4 is its modernization with a larger diameter and laser beam guidance, reportedly increasing the range to 3.5 miles. Bulsae-5, meanwhile, is a 9M133 Kornet with a range of up to 5 miles.

It is very likely that the Bulsae-6 is some variation of the latter with a longer missile equipped with a larger supply of rocket fuel, which translates into increased range. The guidance system remains a mystery; at such a great distance, communication with the fired missile using an unwinding fibre optic cable is no longer optimal, and a laser is also not a practical option.

For example, in the Israeli solution, it is an encrypted radio link and an electro-optical head that sees the thermal image of the target. It is possible that the North Koreans relied on an ordinary daytime camera, similar to the Iranian copy of the Israeli Spike known as "Almas." This issue will remain unknown until parts of the system or its missiles surface on the web.