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[Text/Observer.com Wang Shichun] According to a report on the U.S. "War Zone" column website on July 31, Ukraine reported that Russia obtained a wheeled anti-tank missile launch system from North Korea and deployed the system in the Kharkov region. The Ukrainian military drone photographed the system. This is a wheeled chassis non-line-of-sight (NLOS) anti-tank missile system, similar to the Israeli "Spike" anti-tank missile and the People's Liberation Army's "Red Arrow-10" anti-tank missile. The system has appeared in North Korean military parades many times.

The Ukrainian group also said that the missile appeared to have destroyed a Ukrainian British self-propelled artillery. In a video released by the Russian side in March, the AS-90 howitzer obtained by Ukraine from the UK was destroyed by the Russian army using a top-attack ammunition similar to the "Javelin" anti-tank missile. This ammunition has a relatively low speed and is different from any previous ammunition of the Russian army. The AS-90 howitzer was about 10 kilometers away from the front line when it was destroyed, which is in line with the typical combat distance of the "Firebird" series missiles.

The "War Zone" column commented that it is still unclear whether North Korea has really provided this wheeled anti-tank missile launcher, but North Korea has already provided ballistic missiles and artillery shells to Russia. If North Korea really provided this precision-guided weapon to the Russian army, it would prove that the cooperation between Russia and North Korea has reached a new level.

Ukraine said that the low-speed ammunition in the picture might be North Korea's "Firebird" system anti-tank missile

According to comments in a Ukrainian Telegram group, Ukrainian troops allegedly discovered for the first time a North Korean anti-tank missile system in the Kharkiv region, which The War Zone column called the "Bulsae-4" system. This is a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) missile system similar to the Israeli "Spike" anti-tank missile. The system is mounted on a North Korean 6x6 wheeled armored personnel carrier, known in the West as the M-2010 armored vehicle, with a launcher containing eight missile boxes, but no optoelectronic detection system.

This type of missile uses a fiber-optic guidance system, has a dual-mode optoelectronic guidance head and fiber-optic cable, and has the ability to attack the top of a tank or fortification with a human in the loop. The operator can manually control the missile to bypass obstacles and attack the vulnerable tops of tanks and fortifications. The West believes that the range of this type of missile is between 15 and 25 kilometers. North Korea has displayed this system many times at military parades, and has shown the system firing live ammunition to destroy tanks in related propaganda MVs.

The Ukrainian group also said that this type of missile was suspected to have participated in actual combat and destroyed artillery obtained by Ukraine from the UK. The strike video released by the Russian army in March this year may be related to this North Korean anti-tank missile.

In the Russian video, the AS-90 howitzer obtained by Ukraine from the UK was destroyed by the Russian army using a top-attack ammunition similar to the "Javelin" anti-tank missile, which has a relatively low velocity and is different from any previous ammunition of the Russian army. This video was released this spring, and it was not clear at the time what type of ammunition was used. The AS-90 howitzer was about 10 kilometers away from the front line when it was destroyed, which is in line with the typical combat distance of the "Firebird" missile.

North Korea is a major exporter of anti-tank missiles, and has exported many types of anti-tank missiles to Asia, Africa and Latin America in history. Although the "War Zone" column claims that this missile is the "Firebird-4", this is obviously wrong - the North Korean Academy of Defense Science has displayed the "Firebird-4" missile. From the appearance, the "Firebird-4" missile is still a variant of the Soviet 9M111 anti-tank missile. Therefore, this wheeled anti-tank missile may have other numbers.

At present, the West continues to accuse North Korea of ​​sending weapons to Russia. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said that North Korea continues to help Russia wage war against Ukraine. According to him, as of July 15, the cargo shipped from North Korea to Russia included containers that can hold about 5.2 million artillery shells, as well as dozens of short-range ballistic missiles. However, Ukraine reported earlier that North Korea's ballistic missiles performed poorly in Ukraine, and only one of the 20 ballistic missiles provided by North Korea to Russia hit the target.

The "War Zone" column commented that it is still unclear whether North Korea has really provided this wheeled anti-tank missile launcher, but North Korea has already provided ballistic missiles and artillery shells to Russia. If North Korea really provided this precision-guided weapon to the Russian army, it would prove that the cooperation between Russia and North Korea has reached a new level.

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