This is the second volume in Helion's look at the armed forces of North Korea. The first volume had a look at the troops and organization of the army, which is probably the largest when compared to the size of the nation's population. It is also about the only way some can get out of abject poverty.

This edition concentrates on Tanks and Artillery. North Korea has a ton of artillery, much of it already in place and aimed at South Korea. Much of it is also quite old, some of it dating back to the Korean War. However, if kept in good working order, even old equipment is useful if properly maintained. Based on current Russian experience with North Korean ammunition, one has to wonder how much of it is actually viable, but the Russians probably got all the old stuff.

Most of North Korea's tanks are based on Russian equipment such as the T-55, T-62 and T-72. Some of this has been license built, while others are modifications of the extant tanks. The North Korean army simply doesn't have the available funds to purchase cutting edge gear so they have become quite adept at using what they have and upgrading as necessary. Even 'new' builds are based on extant equipment. The same goes for artillery.

Artillery does include some very long range equipment, such as that which is shown on the front cover. There is also an abundance of rocket based artillery, some with an impressive range. Anti-aircraft artillery is fairly old fashioned with their large calibre machine gun equipment probably the most effective. Included in this book is also a look at their various engineering equipment as an army needs things like bridge layers and recovery vehicles.

In all, it is an excellent companion to the earlier volume and is one that I found very interesting. I can most easily recommend this one to you.

January 2026

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