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South Korea is the only country in the world that has successfully developed a DPICM shell with a failure rate of less than 1%.
Due to the Ukraine-Russia war, a massive arms race has started in Europe. Two companies, Hanwha and Poongsan, are attracting the most attention from foreign military officials visiting the domestic defense exhibition.
Although they refrained from giving specific details due to security reasons, officials from both companies revealed that many countries, including Poland, are showing great interest in long-range strike weapons equipped with DPICM shells.
Specifically, Poland is considering introducing the KTSSM-Ⅱ tactical ballistic missile developed by Hanwha and the 54km-range composite propulsion shell developed by Poongsan. There are other interested countries, but they are not yet disclosed due to confidentiality.
As Poland has procured the HOMAR-K, which is the Polish version of Cheonmu, they have equipped an improved rocket pod from the outset that can use the KTSSM-Ⅱ (known in Poland as the Ure-II).
Export of unguided rockets and composite propulsion shells
Officials from Hanwha and Poongsan say that due to the Ukraine-Russia war, there is a demand for a large amount of advanced ammunition, and Korea has a technology in this field that surpasses the United States and Western Europe.
Specifically, Hanwha plans to export the GMLRS guided missile while selling the Cheonmu multiple rocket launcher to Poland. The core components of the exported GMLRS to Poland are different from the model used by the Korean Army.
Moreover, because the GPS-guided GMLRS is expensive, once mass production of the Cheonmu GPS-guided rocket<230mm 무유도 로켓탄(사거리 45km)> developed by Hanwha begins in earnest, it is likely to be exported as well. As mentioned earlier, Poland is considering introducing a 54km-range composite propulsion shell, and several Middle Eastern countries plan to order more than 3,000 rounds.
The reason why foreign countries are interested in Korean ammunition is because it incorporates the DPICM(Dual-purpose Improved Conventional Munition), a feature not found in European or American products, which has gained a notorious reputation on the Ukraine-Russia battlefield. Moreover, the Korean version is the only one in the world that meets the CCW treaty with its DPICM shell.
This is a firing scene of the K239 Cheonmu multiple rocket launcher.
Korean Army’s firepower plan
The development of unguided rockets and composite propulsion shells that Korea is proud of has the following background.
The new firepower plan set up by the Korean military in the 2010s is to remove the 300~400mm artillery held by North Korea with the KTSSM-Ⅱ, and the 240mm artillery and 170mm howitzer hidden in the tunnel base near the armistice line with the KTSSM. And the exposed various artillery of the North Korean military will be removed with the 80km-range Cheonmu GPS guided missile, the 45km-range unguided rocket, and the 54km-range 155mm composite propulsion shell. This is the plan that has been prepared.
The top is a GPS-guided rocket for Cheonmu, and the bottom is a KTSSM-Ⅱ tactical ballistic missile.
◆ 230mm Unguided Rocket Development Project
The army plans to deploy a domestic type with performance equivalent to the KM26A2 (45km-range) multiple rocket launcher, using the K239 Cheonmu, which is scheduled for mass deployment.
Although the GPS-guided rocket (GMLRS) for Cheonmu had excellent performance, it was necessary to have an unguided rocket with a reasonable performance and price because the production cost was too high.
Since Hanwha was independently developing a KM26A2-grade unguided rocket, it had already accumulated considerable technology. Therefore, on November 16, 2016, the 97th Defense Project Promotion Committee deliberated and decided on a basic strategy for the project to develop and power a 230mm unguided rocket for Cheonmu using domestic technology from 2017 to 2020.
