Footage Shows First Transfers of North Korean Long Range Missiles to Russia: Why Moscow Needs Pukkuksong-2 Launchers to Counter NATO

<p >Footage taken in Russia has shown further large scale transfers of North Korean 170mm Koksan self propelled howitzers to Russia, after these guns were <a href=" >first sighted</a> in the country in mid-November. The full implications of the transfer of these high calibre artillery pieces, the dispatch of which represents part of a broader trend of <a href=" >much larger scale </a>North Korean artillery supplies to Russia, was previously assessed in detail <a href=" >here</a>. The latest train carrying North Korean howitzers, however, notably also carried unidentified vehicles which closely resembled the launchers from the North Korean Pukkuksong-2 medium range ballistic missile system. If confirmed, this would represent the first ever transfer of North Korean medium range ballistic missiles to Russia, following its transfer of similarly long ranged missiles to Iran and Pakistan from the 1990s. The Pukkuksong-2 has an estimated engagement range of 2500 kilometres, and would thus provide an effective shorter ranged counterpart to the <a href=" target="_blank">Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile </a>currently in production in Russia itself. The missile would bridge the gap between the 4000km range Oreshnik and the 800km range <a href=" target="_blank">North Korean KN-23B</a>, which was first confirmed to have been delivered to Russia in January 2024. </p><p ><img src=" title="Outlines of Apparent Pukkuksong-2 Launchers in Russia" ></p><p >The Pukkuksong-2 and its naval counterpart the Pukkuksong-1 began flight testing in 2014, and represented a major milestone for North Korea’s defence sector in terms of the sophistication of its longer ranged missile classes. Expert on North Korean weapons programs A. B. Abrams, author of the recent book <a href=" target="_blank">Surviving the Unipolar Era: North Korea's 35 Year Standoff with the United States</a>, referred to the missile’s significance as follows:</p><p >“The missile demonstrated tremendous advances by local industry, as it combined an intermediate range of an estimated 2,500 kilometres with a very compact seven meter long body… the missile’s most notable feature was its use of a solid rather than a liquid fuel composite.ix Solid fuel engines allowed missiles to be stored fully fuelled, reducing launch times to a fraction of those for liquid fuelled missiles, which was particularly valuable for the KPA’s road-mobile arsenal. While U.S. forces had struggled profusely during the Gulf War to seek out and destroy Iraqi road-mobile Scud ballistic missiles, despite their launch times of close to an hour and in spite of the openness of the desert terrain, a transition to liquid fuelled missiles would help ensure that the survivability of the North Korean strategic deterrent stayed ahead of advances in the American reconnaissance-strike complex.”</p><p ><img src=" title="North Korean Launch of Pukkuksong-2 Ballistic Missile"></p><p >The implications of the Pukkuksong-2’s entry into Russian service are highly significant, as the missile provides a means not only of engaging targets across Ukraine from deep behind Russian lines, but also of retaliating against targets in Europe as <a href=" target="_blank">multiple European states</a> play increasingly overt roles in <a href=" target="_blank">attacks against Russia</a> from Ukrainian soil. Russian officials have <a href=" target="_blank">repeatedly indicated</a> the possibility that such joint attacks, primarily using cruise missiles, could be <a href=" target="_blank">responded to</a> with attacks on NATO member states such as the United Kingdom, and not only attacks against Ukraine. With Russia’s arsenal of <a href=" target="_blank">Oreshnik missiles</a> thought to be limited, the addition of the Pukkuksong-2 to its arsenal provides an additional means of engaging such targets. </p><p >Although North Korea has made extensive technology transfers related to medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles to Iran, the Pukkuksong-2 sale if confirmed would be the country’s first transfer of complete medium range ballistic missiles to a foreign client in two decades, and would represent the longest range missile class it has ever exported. The transfer opens up the possibility that Russia will acquire more medium and intermediate range missile classes from its eastern neighbour, which could include missiles such as the <a href=" target="_blank">Hwasong-8</a> and <a href=" target="_blank">Hwasong-16B with hypersonic glide vehicles</a>. North Korea’s diverse arsenal of advanced long range ballistic missile classes makes it an ideal supplier for Russia as the country seeks to strengthen its conventional strike capabilities against countries across Europe. </p>