North Korea Fields New Rocket Artillery and Tactical Missile System to Counter U.S. Forces

The first images of a new Korean People’s Army rocket artillery and tactical ballistic missile system have been released by North Korean state media, highlighting the ongoing rapid modernisation of its frontline tactical firepower which poses growing threats to U.S. and allied ground capabilities. The new system features two fire modules that can select either one KN-24 tactical ballistic missile with a 300 kilometre range, or nine 240mm rockets with 67 kilometre ranges. Testing of the new system evaluated a "special mission warhead" on ballistic missiles, the reliability of rocket artillery systems, and the accuracy of a separate AI-guided tactical cruise missile system. Commenting on the tests, chairman of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party Kim Jong Un stated that they showed that the weapons and their automated launch systems had been successfully upgraded to “suit the proper conditions of modern warfare so as to enhance their application to combat.”

The Korean People’s Army has for years deployed one of the largest and most advanced rocket artillery and tactical ballistic missile arsenals in the world, with the development of the new system reflecting the latest development in expansive and wide ranging modernisation efforts. Providing a broad equivalent to the U.S. Army ATACMS, the KN-24 is the shortest ranged and least costly ballistic missile type in production in North Korea, and was referred to in a 2020 U.S. Congressional Research Service report as an asset which “demonstrates the guidance system and in-flight manoeuvrability to achieve precision strikes.” Expanded production allowed 1000 of the missiles to be handed over to Korean People’s Army “frontline units” near the inter-Korean demilitarised zone in August  2024, providing an indication of its peacetime production scale, and making it one of the most widely deployed ballistic missile types in the world. The latest of several new factories producing the missiles was opened in September 2025. 

The North Korean rocket artillery arsenal has long stood out for both its size and for the high calibres of long range systems that are in service. The KN-25 600 millimetre system has the longest engagement range in the world, which has been demonstrated at over 350 kilometres. Much like the newly tested cruise missile, regarding which little is known, modernised variants of the KN-25 were confirmed in March 2026 to also use artificial intelligence for guidance, with Chairman Kim having announced at the time that the system “uses AI technology and a combined guidance system,” and could launch strategic level attacks. The development of the latest system integrating rocket artillery with ballistic missiles onto a single launcher notably mirrors the design choices taken in the U.S. and South Korea developing the respective ATACMS, M270, and Chunmoo systems.