Ukrainians Destroy Hundreds Of North Korean Soldiers With Single Weapon
- 18.12.2024, 8:26
Details of the strike by AFU.
The DPRK troops deployed by the Russian Federation in the Kursk region attacked Ukrainian Armed Forces units near the village of Plekhovo last weekend. The first attack was a high cost for the North Koreans, and the second attack was successfully repelled by the fighters of the 17th separate heavy mechanised Kryvyi Rih brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the help of American cluster munitions, Forbes writes.
“The Ukrainians may have one controversial weapon, thanks to which they won a victory over the weekend on that section of the Kursk front,” the journalists suggest.
The authors of the article note that the video of the attack shows the use of American-made cluster munitions. According to them, these could have been dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM), which open over the battlefield and scatter grenade-sized submunitions. It is noted that as a result of such an attack, the DPRK 11th Army Corps lost hundreds of fighters.
American journalists write that Ukraine received DPICMs from the United States rather late, a year after the start of a full-scale invasion because this is a rather controversial weapon. Some submunitions of cluster munitions remain unexploded and can subsequently pose a danger to friendly troops and civilians. The United States is switching to newer DPICM models to minimize these risks, but Ukraine was forced to agree to older shells due to the huge advantage of the Russian Federation in troops and equipment.
According to US Army data cited by the Royal United Services Institute in London, one enemy soldier may need 14 standard 155-mm shells, while only two DPICM shells will be enough since each disperses 88 submunitions.
“Not only do DPICM’s deadly rounds kill the enemy faster, they also allow friendly artillery batteries to fire fewer rounds to achieve the same effect,” the reporters note.
Royal United Nations Institute for Defence Studies analysts Jack Watling and Justin Bronk say the most important argument for Ukraine’s use of DPICM was the savings in artillery ammunition and the longer barrel life of the weapon.
“Since each barrel has a life of around 1,800 rounds, providing Ukraine with DPICM would mean it would have to fire fewer rounds to achieve a given combat effect, allowing it to be used in combat for significantly longer,” Watling and Bronk noted.