Footage Shows How North Korea’s Rocket Systems Are Vulnerable to Drones

Combat footage increasingly shows how North Korea’s old multiple launch rocket systems sent to Russia are susceptible to attack from first-person-view drones.

Ukrainian units have been uploading clips of their drones striking the artillery systems, with some igniting the launchers’ exposed munitions to cause catastrophic damage.

In one recent clip, posted by Ukraine’s 429th “Achilles” Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment on Friday, an FPV drone is seen flying into the rear of a North Korean 107mm Type-75 launcher.

Footage captured by the drone showed at least four rockets already loaded into the 12-barrel towed launcher at the moment of impact. The crew is nowhere to be seen as the drone appears to strike one of the missiles.

The Achilles regiment also uploaded a separate reconnaissance clip, filmed from a distance, that appeared to show the system detonating.

In the video, a rocket appears to fly out of the treeline, though it’s difficult to tell if both clips are definitively linked to the same attack.

The Type-75 has repeatedly been sighted in recent months on the Russian frontline and training grounds. It appears to be one of the latest systems that North Korea shipped for Moscow’s forces, and is Pyongyang’s version of the Chinese lightweight Type-63 launcher — an old 12-tube system that leaves all of its loaded rockets exposed.

Another Type-75 was reported destroyed on July 12 by a unit of Ukraine’s National Guard, which uploaded a clip of a drone dropping a munition on the system.

North Korea has also sent its longer-range M1991 multiple launch rocket systems for Russia’s use, one of which was seen heavily damaged by a drone strike last month.

Footage uploaded by Ukraine’s 413 Unmanned Systems Battalion in late June showed that a drone ignited one of the launcher’s exposed missiles, causing it to fire prematurely and pierce the truck’s driver chassis.

Two soldiers are seen jumping out of the smoking driver’s cabin.

Ukraine says North Korea has sent Russia hundreds of artillery pieces, including the M1991, the Type-75, howitzers, and Pyongyang’s more modern launchers such as the KN-09 multiple launch rocket system.

Much of North Korea’s equipment is based on Soviet or Chinese tech, so it’s typically highly similar to systems that Russia’s troops were already using in Ukraine.

The Cold War-era BM-21 Grad, for example, is a rocket system that has featured heavily in the war and is loaded by hand. And its munitions, like the M1991 and Type-75, are exposed and vulnerable to FPV drone attacks.

Conversely, modern Western rocket systems, such as the American M142 HIMARS, for example, often use containerized, enclosed munitions that are somewhat shielded from smaller explosions.

North Korea’s most recent military parades have showcased newer rocket launchers that appear to feature some additional protection, though these largely seem to just come in the form of larger tubes.

With the bulk of Pyongyang’s artillery arsenal believed by the West and South Korea to consist of older, legacy systems, it’s likely many of its launchers will suffer the same disadvantage as the M1991 and Type-75, while militaries around the world bet on the rise of drone warfare.