North Korean ammunition may be of such poor quality that it would be unsafe for Russian soldiers to use.
If North Korea provides Russia with artillery shells and other weapons for the war in Ukraine, it could help the Kremlin replenish its dwindling ammunition stockpiles, but is unlikely to change the course of the conflict, Reuters writes, citing Western military analysts.
North Korea is believed to have a large stockpile of artillery shells and missiles compatible with Soviet-era weapons, which will greatly enhance Russia’s capabilities in the short term, while North Korea’s production lines will help in the long term.
“Almost none of the munitions are in any way “modern” – they will support the traditional use of Russian barrage artillery, but will not provide Russia with any precision-guided munitions,” says one expert.
Earlier, the United States said that Russia wants to purchase “literally millions” of artillery shells and missiles from North Korea. At the same time, as analysts note, the question of the quality of North Korean artillery shells arises if their defects go beyond accepted tolerances.
“Poorly manufactured ammunition will have inconsistent performance – this can affect flight behavior, reducing accuracy; poor quality fuses can cause premature action; shelf life can be reduced if the contents are poorly manufactured,” the article states. “They all need to be manufactured to high specifications, otherwise they may not land where expected, which could have catastrophic consequences.”
The low quality of North Korean shells is confirmed by the results of observations of their tests, during which many shells did not reach the target and did not explode. This suggests that some artillery ammunition produced in North Korea suffered from either poor quality control during production or poor storage conditions and standards.
With very large quantities of ammunition, experts say lack of accuracy and the occasional dud or missile will not matter much to the Russians.
“However, this will be important if North Korean ammunition is of such poor quality that it would simply be unsafe for use on Russian soldiers, and there is every indication that North Korean ammunition has such quality problems,” writes Reuters.
Russia has a critical shortage of ammunition for war
As Western media reported, Russia will be able to increase artillery production in the next couple of years to approximately 2 million shells per year, which significantly exceeds Western expectations. At the same time, last year Russia fired between 10 and 11 million shells into Ukraine, so the amount produced will certainly not be enough to replenish its resources.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on Tuesday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, where the Russian dictator is expected to beg for artillery shells.
