N Korea Shows Off New Tank Amid War Games

N Korea Shows Off New Tank Amid War Games

news.sky.com

North Korea has shown off its new battle tank after the US and South Korea launched the latest round of war games in the region.

Known as the M2002, the tank is thought to be equipped with a laser rangefinder, anti-aircraft machine guns and a modern firing system.

(visit the link for the full news article)

It looks like it is based on the T-90 - of which North Korea purchased one and reversed engineered it.

It is said to be on par with the based model K1 operated by South Korea, which in turn is comparable with the M1A1.

Also in the same article:

"In another sign of heightened tension, South Korea has alleged that the North flew an unmanned drone over the Yeonpyeong islands for the first time."

"Both countries claim the islands are part of their naval border, and there have been two skirmishes in the area before - in 1999 and 2002."

news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by crisko


They have unmanned aircrafts now? WOW..

N-Korea is much advanced then the Western propaganda shows them to be.

reply to post by oozyism


What is the old saying?
"Don't ever underestimate your enemies no matter how weak they are."

Kim Jong Il is an highly intelligent person who knows what he is knowing 24/7. I think many people picture him as wannabe playboy.

reply to post by crisko


With a population comprising a mere 24 million, a populace which suffered periodic famine and no real economy that we could speak of ..... what is the driver of N.Korean innovation.

Who is supplying them with technology and educating their scientists etc. ?

reply to post by UmbraSumus


Also, where or how are they getting the materials to produce weapons like that? They can't even feed their people.

The Major adheres to the age old adage, "pics or it didn't happen."

Two things that are unlikely to be photographed in North Korea, a nutritious meal and indigenous cutting edge military hardware. The latter more likely than the former.

Dismissed.

reply to post by MBF


A little background info on the subject.

North Korea is where Vietnam and China were before they started major market overhauls.

Analysis : Kim Jong Il, the reformer ?

Some worry that U.S.-led sanctions could nip any flowering of capitalism in the bud. “The problem is still U.S. Treasury’s attitude,” said one such foreigner, who asked not to be identified further.
Treasury Department officials began working several years ago to take North Korea “out of the international banking system,” discouraging trade, he noted.

reply to post by Romantic_Rebel


No, from Sun Tzu.

Feign weakness when you are strong, feign strength when you are weak.

Artillery could pretty much obliterate most of South Korea within a few hours, just as the artillery in South Korea could obliterate the North.

Nothing but hell if those batteries ever opened up.

Tanks are good for one thing, for oppressing a people. Period.

Remember the tanks in Iraq? Pretty much gone in a few hours.

Unless your opposition has heavy artillery or other types of anti tank weaponry, tanks are for blitzkrieg type warfare upon a severely weaker opponent, as in civilians.

[edit on 17-8-2010 by saltheart foamfollower]

Originally posted by oozyism
reply to post by crisko

 

They have unmanned aircrafts now? WOW..

N-Korea is much advanced then the Western propaganda shows them to be.

But where is the video of this tank? Nothing more concrete than, "This tank is thought to have, blah , blah, blah ...?"

IF the NK military is that advanced - and I doubt it - I wouldn't look at this development so gleefully as you must remember that the NK military - like that of most dictatorships is built on the backs of its starving people.

Don't agree? Why not post some examples of that workers paradise for all of us?

[edit on 8/17/2010 by centurion1211]

reply to post by centurion1211


Propaganda got to you

That propaganda benifits you

That propaganda gets American arms sold to S-Korea

That propaganda gets American arms sold to Japan

||Iran this Iran that|| US is cashing in

1 South Korea $2.5 billion
1 South Korea $3.7 bill.
2 South Korea $570 million

1 Japan $800 million
2 Japan $2.5 billion
3 Japan $1.5 billion

Fear is good

[edit on 17-8-2010 by oozyism]

Originally posted by oozyism
reply to post by centurion1211

 

Propaganda got to you

[edit on 17-8-2010 by oozyism]

Read my revised post and then look in the mirror to decide who is swallowing the propaganda.

To you, based on nothing more than one article's hearsay, the NK military now has a tank equal to the M1A1. Now about that bridge in the desert I have for sale ...

reply to post by crisko


That's nice and all, but tanks went obsolete on the battle field a ways back. Now a days their only use is infantry mortar support. You're not likely going to see a tank battle.

Also, considering the m1a1 is a 30 year old model, and the Americans will have their m1a3 out in a few years, I doubt it's efficiency or even competitiveness.

It is said to be on par with the based model K1 operated by South Korea, which in turn is comparable with the M1A1.

Yet the Abrams has been battle tested and has proved itself in tank on tank warfare performing very well. It's an aging design.

Originally posted by Gorman91
Also, considering the m1a1 is a 30 year old model, and the Americans will have their m1a3 out in a few years, I doubt it's efficiency or even competitiveness.

Wow instead of being the usual 40 years behind they are now only 30 years behind.

I did find it strange that the article about the "unveiling" of a new tank didn't have a video, photo, drawing, sketch, or even a description of said tank.

I call propaganda. Trying to scare people into believing more threat exists than really does.

Or maybe NK really sucks at "unveiling" things?

Or they could have forgotten to include the photos?

Here is a link to a site that has the technical specifications as well as picture of the tank.

reply to post by centurion1211

Read my revised post and then look in the mirror to decide who is swallowing the propaganda.

To you, based on nothing more than one article's hearsay, the NK military now has a tank equal to the M1A1. Now about that bridge in the desert I have for sale ...

I thought the propaganda was only one sided

When was the last time you saw N-Korean propaganda on Western TV without it being rediculed

Communism bad, Democracy good, N-Korea bad, West good

Vedy niiiice

reply to post by crisko


Thanks for the link. Remindsme of SCUD missiles. Lots of propoganda, not much weapon.

But on a different note, why showcase a tank? Why develop one? Going to try to break the DMZ on anything land based? Last I heard, NK didn't have much in the way of deploying troops not to mention tanks.

Rule one to NK. When trying to pass over a heavy minefield, with cannon, artillery, and insane small arms, ground travel bad, air travel good. God have mercy on anyone ordered to be on this thing and cross the DMZ.

Originally posted by Gorman91


That's nice and all, but tanks went obsolete on the battle field a ways back. Now a days their only use is infantry mortar support. You're not likely going to see a tank battle.

People were saying that forty years ago, but here they still are. The death knell for Tanks has often been sounded, but they go on.

The use of Tanks nowadays is still very much as Tanks were used forty years ago, to spearhead assaults, to provide mobile artillery support, to be an anti-tank weapon in itself, but also for one other factor: Psychological warfare.

A Tank advancing on you would be unnerving. The sight of one can still lead to an opposing side to retreat, just like in WW1, where they first appeared.

Many people point at the Iraqi Tanks being destroyed en masse as proof Tanks have had their day. Three factors need to be remembered here:

1) The T-54/55, T-62, T-72 Type 59 and Type 69 and other assorted armour that the Iraqis had were overall Soviet "monkey kits" which quite literally were Soviet Tanks stripped down to basics for cheaper exports en masse. The Soviets did not want their customers having Tanks of the same calibre as their own. So they sold their customers stripped down Tanks which in any Tank vs Tank battle, would be at a disadvantage, having been stripped of the mod-cons.

2) The Tanks the Iraqis faced in 1991 and 2003 were next-generation Tanks which had all kinds of technical gadgetry and advanced armour to attain supremacy over their Iraqi counterparts. The advanced technology that the Tanks had helped with battlefield location and situation, giving themselves an advantage.

3) The Iraqis did not have air cover to cover their ground forces, indeed both in 1991 and 2003, their opponents had unchallenged air supremacy, allowing for Iraqi ground targets to be picked off at will.

Originally posted by Gorman91
Also, considering the m1a1 is a 30 year old model, and the Americans will have their m1a3 out in a few years, I doubt it's efficiency or even competitiveness.

The fact the US still uses a Tank whose original design is 30 years old shows how the Tank is not obsolete. The Abrams, built 30 years ago, is still relevant and feared on the battlefield.

The new North Korean Tank is based on a T-72. As a T-72 can be modernised and upgraded to a T-90 MBT standard, a Tank which is on a par generationally with the Abrams Tank, it will be interesting to see if this new North Korean is a T-72 brought up to T-90 standard.

Reports the North Koreans reverse-engineered a T-90 may add credence to the possibility of this new tank being a T-90 spec T-72.

Of course, the North Korea Tank may be an old T-72 which has simply been fitted with fake armour to make it look good.

It would be impossible to tell unless it was inspected, and whether it's just the same mocked-up Tank photographed again and again as opposed to a number of Tanks of the same standard.

[edit on 18-8-2010 by Regensturm]