North Korea Equips New Tanks with APS; 90% of ROK Army Tanks Lack System

Tanks emerged as targets of obsolescence debates after suffering heavy losses from anti-tank missiles early in the 2022 Ukraine war. Yet tanks remain the most critical asset in ground warfare. Their powerful main guns and thick armor make them highly effective at protecting infantry and armored vehicles in both offensive and defensive operations.

North Korea, having gained modern warfare experience through troop deployments to the Ukraine war, is accelerating modernization of conventional forces including mechanized equipment such as tanks and armored vehicles. North Korea's Korean Central News Agency recently released footage of comprehensive operational tests of a new active protection system, reporting that "the detection systems and rotary interceptor launchers demonstrated extremely high responsiveness, and the newly developed active protection system is highly superior."

The agency also reported that Chairman Kim Jong-un inspected operations at the Armored Defense Weapons Research Institute and Electronic Weapons Research Institute. This marks the first time state media has reported on these two institutes under North Korea's National Defense Science Academy. The institutes are believed to research hard-kill and soft-kill defense systems, respectively.

Hong Min, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, assessed: "The Armored Defense Weapons Research Institute handles physical defense (hard-kill), while the Electronic Weapons Research Institute handles electronic defense (soft-kill). The two institutes appear to be collaborating to build a combined armor protection system." Countermeasures against anti-tank weapon systems are divided into hard-kill, which directly destroys targets, and soft-kill, which focuses on neutralization.

Countries worldwide are analyzing lessons learned from the tank warfare between Russia and Ukraine and moving swiftly. They are significantly strengthening tank armor defense capabilities while rushing to install Active Protection Systems (APS). APS is most effective at enhancing survivability due to its short detection-identification-response time against threats such as anti-tank missiles approaching tanks or armored vehicles.

In 2023, footage released by Palestinian militant group Hamas to boast of its combat results instead drew global attention by demonstrating the remarkable defense system of the Israel Defense Forces' main battle tank, the Merkava.

The footage showed the tank continuing to advance without significant damage despite coming under Hamas attack on the battlefield. Paradoxically, the video Hamas released to showcase its achievements became real-world proof of the Israeli military's cutting-edge tank defense system performance.

Not only North Korea but also the U.S. military, which boasts the world's strongest forces, is pursuing APS installation on M1A2 Abrams tanks and Stryker armored vehicles to counter anti-tank missile development trends. Russia has also recently equipped its Armata T-14 tank with APS. Israel already installed the system on Merkava tanks deployed along the Gaza Strip border in 2009.

China is also actively investing heavily in APS development. It recently unveiled a new APS called GL-6. Like the existing GL-5, it can defend flanks and also intercept rocket-propelled grenades fired from aerial drones.

What is the status of active protection system installation on ROK Army ground forces? Unfortunately, although the military developed K-APS during K2 tank development, introduction has been indefinitely postponed due to high costs and lack of doctrine.

As a result, nine out of ten tanks held by units under the Army Ground Operations Command reportedly lack APS.

According to "APS Installation Status for Tanks Held by Ground Operations Command Subordinate Units" data submitted by the Army during the National Assembly Defense Committee's inspection of Army Headquarters, approximately 1,300 of roughly 1,500 total tanks lack APS. About 400 K1A1 tanks, 900 K1E1 tanks, and 40 M-series tanks are not equipped with APS.

Only approximately 200 K2 tanks are equipped with infrared guidance jamming "soft-kill" APS.

Moreover, North Korea's deployment of anti-tank weapons to each infantry squad to counter ROK tanks is deeply concerning. New tandem warheads for RPGs (rocket-propelled grenade launchers) revealed at North Korean military parades are designed to counter reactive armor, posing a threat to the ROK military's main K1-series tanks, which lack APS.

Furthermore, even K2 tanks equipped with soft-kill APS are likely defenseless against North Korean RPGs, necessitating urgent upgrades to active destruction "hard-kill" APS.

A military official stated: "The North Korean military is strengthening asymmetric capabilities, including deploying anti-tank weapons to each infantry squad to counter our tank forces. Our military must also prepare for future battlefields by expediting introduction of new tanks and installing APS on existing main battle tanks to counter North Korean anti-tank weapons."