Place of origin North Korea Designed 2014 Caliber 300 mm (12 in) | In service 2016 – present Produced 2014 – present | |
Type Multiple rocket launcher | ||
The KN-09 is a North Korean 300 mm rocket artillery system of a launcher unit comprising 8 rockets packaged in two four-rocket pods.
Design
The KN-09 is suspected to be derived from similar large-caliber MRLs such as the Russian BM-30 Smerch, Chinese WS-1B, or even Syrian M-302. The truck used in the KN-09 is reported to be the Chinese-made civilian version of Sinotruk HOWO truck repurposed for military use. It was first seen in 2014 when South Korea and the United States were conducting their joint exercises.
South Korea estimates the 300 mm rockets have a range of 180–200 km (110–120 mi), much longer than the Korean People's Army Ground Force's previous longest-range MRL, the 240 mm M1985/M1991 with range of 60–65 km (37–40 mi). While this was far enough to threaten Seoul, the KN-09's range can cover half of South Korea, including the ROK military's Gyeryongdae complex in South Chungcheong Province as well as the city of Daejeon, and threaten major United States Forces Korea military bases like Pyeongtaek and Osan Air Base, 97 km (60 mi) south of Seoul. Being rocket artillery, it has certain advantages over ballistic missiles, such as being less complex and more reliable, cheaper and easier to mass produce, and the ability to be fired in volleys. They are also more difficult to counter, as ballistic missile defenses are not designed to intercept artillery rockets. The 300 mm rockets are three times as powerful as the BM-21's 122 mm rocket, and fragmentation-mine shells and underground penetration shells are also in production; they may have some type of guidance system. South Korea believes the KN-09 may enter operational service by the end of 2016.
North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released photos of the KN-09 in March 2016, revealing improvements to the system. The 6×6 launcher truck features armored louvers to protect the windshield from rocket blasts, and the eight launch tubes are contained in two pods of four rockets, decreasing reload time as pods can be preloaded with missiles and swapped out faster than reloading individual tubes. Although the MRL's design is suspected to be based on Russian and Chinese large-caliber rocket artillery, with guidance likely coming from Russian GLONASS or Chinese Beidou navigation system, the rockets have two control fins on their heads, a guidance characteristic of the American M31 GMLRS that has four small wings attached to the head of the rocket for accuracy, a feature not present on the 9K58 Smerch.