Kim Jong-un, North Korea's state affairs commission chairman, personally oversaw an attack drill using a new main battle tank equipped with an active protection system and said the tank will be "fielded on a large scale" going forward.
The Korean Central News Agency said on the 20th that Kim Jong-un visited the Pyongyang No. 60 Training Ground of the People's Army Capital Defense Corps the day before and observed a combined assault tactics drill by infantry and tank units.
According to the outlet, a variety of tests were conducted in this drill to check the active protection system of the new main battle tank. It said the system's effectiveness was "clearly demonstrated" by intercepting incoming anti-tank missiles and drones from different points and directions with a "100% hit rate." An active protection system on a tank is a system that automatically responds to and intercepts an enemy weapon as it approaches.
Kim Jong-un noted that improving survivability was a particular focus in developing the new tank and assessed that it is equipped with a "mobile, integrated protection system" that can "reliably neutralize with high precision" various anti-tank guided missiles and drones. He went on, "I am convinced that there is no armored weapon in the world with self-defense capabilities as strong as this tank," adding, "Completely overcoming the combat limitations of our armored forces, which were weak in night operations, is a major transformation."
He said, "From now on, these superior new tanks will be fielded on a large scale in our army, and our armored forces will develop to a higher level." Emphasizing the need to continuously improve performance in line with the flow of modern warfare, he urged, "All echelons of our military must keep their heightened momentum without the slightest letup and continue to raise it extraordinarily, carrying it forward into a leap in results that complete war preparations."
North Korea first unveiled the new tank, "Chonma-20," as being deployed in the field during a military parade in Oct. last year. In this exercise as well, North Korea used drones in the process of striking and seizing the enemy's defensive line. The outlet reported that unmanned attack aircraft conducted training to strike enemy strongholds based on real-time reconnaissance information.
Photos released by state media that day also showed Kim Jong-un's daughter, Ju Ae, riding inside the tank with Kim Jong-un. Ju Ae has recently been accompanying Kim Jong-un on military-related schedules on an ongoing basis.