North Korea Unveils Cutting Edge Next Gen. Tank: Tianma-2 Boasts Active Protection Systems, Top Attack Missiles, a Remote Weapon Station and More

<p >North Korea’s defence sector has unveiled the new Tianma 2 main battle tank at a major defence exhibition in Pyongyang on November 21, where the vehicle was displayed alongside many of the country’s high profile new weapons systems including <a href=" target="_blank">Hwasong-16B hypersonic glide vehicles</a> and a new rocket artillery system. The new tank replaced the Chonma 2 at the exhibition, a prior class of main battle tank <a href=" target="_blank">first unveiled in 2020</a>. The Tianma 2 shares a number of design features with the Chonma 2, with its unveiling having raised the possibility that the older tank may have been phased out of production after <a href=" target="_blank">equipping a small number of units</a>, as production lines transition to manufacturing the new vehicles. The Tianma 2 is the first North Korean tank to integrate an autoloader, reducing its crew from four to three personnel and increasing the rate of fire. Autoloaders were pioneered by the Soviet Union in the 1960s, with the technologies subsequently having been transferred from Russia to both China and South Korea. Although American, British and German tanks continue to lack such systems and require four man crews, although the U.S. Army is planning to induct an enhanced variant of its M1 Abrams tank into service with such a subsystem around the year 2030.</p><p ><img src=" title="Tianma 2 Scale Model"></p><p >One of the most notable features on North Korea’s new tank is the integration of an active protection system – a subsystem that very few states have been able to develop. Such systems use radars to continuously monitor their surrounding environments for incoming threats, and when detecting incoming projectiles track them automatically, calculate their trajectories, and deploy protective munitions to intercept and destroy them – thus preventing them from impacting the tank. Active protection systems were first operationalised by Israel in 2009, with the lack of comparable systems in the Western world leading Germany and the United States to acquire the Israeli Trophy system for their own tanks. North Korea’s active protection system was <a href=" seen in use </a>in footage released in July 2023 showing the Chonma 2 tank in testing. Only a small minority of tanks operational in the world today feature active protection systems, with Russia’s T-90M tank having only<a href=" integrated such systems</a> from August 2024.</p><p ><img src=" title="North Korean Chonma 2 Main Battle Tanks"></p><p >The Tianma 2’s primary armament is a 125mm smoothbore gun, with footage previously released having <a href=" target="_blank">confirmed</a> the deployment of modern armour piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot rounds with excellent length to diameter ratios, indicating a high penetrative capability. Greater length indicates a more structurally efficient sabot design allowing it to defeat greater line of sight armour depth. As secondary armaments, the tank’s remotely operated weapon station deploys both launchers for anti-tank guided missiles, as well as a 12.7mm heavy machine gun. The turret roof of the tank is outfitted with a counter-drone launcher system. The Tianma 2 is expected to deploy non-line of sight anti-tank missiles, namely the Bulsae-4, which has similar characteristics to the American Javelin but over twice the range. The missile has been <a href=" target="_blank">combat tested </a>to great effect in the Ukrainian theatre. Such missiles can engage targets using targeting data provided by drones and other supporting assets, and strike enemy armour from their top rather than the sides as top armour is usually thinner.</p><p ><img src=" title="Tianma 2 Turret"></p><p >Other notable features on North Korea’s new tank include a modular composite armour turret which appears to offer high levels of protection against both kinetic energy projectiles and shaped charges. The front and sides of the hull are covered by Explosive Reactive Armour, while additional protection against shaped charges such as rocket propelled grenades is provided by wire cage armour in the rear. A panoramic sight system for the commander and gunner provide enhanced target acquisition and tracking capabilities and significantly improved levels of situational awareness. The Tianma 2 appears to be North Korea’s first class of main battle tank that is a genuine world leader in its time, with its performance appearing to be highly competitive with leading rivals such as the German Leopard 2A7, Chinese VT-4 and Russian T-90M. With Russia having suspended exports of main battle tanks, after having previously dominated global markets, the sophistication of the Tianma 2 could allow North Korea to market it to a range of clients abroad, and to potentially market a range of the tank’s subsystems to Russia itself as the country seeks to modernise its Soviet era inventories. </p>