Chŏlgung air defense system

Concept art of a Chŏlgung-WR long-range air defense battery stationed in Argentstan. Note the two Y64G2BR TELARs in the foreground and the Y64G2BG TELTs and Y64G2JSR 3D air search radar and command post in the background.

The Chŏlgung air defense system is an extended family of air defense platforms, including missile launch vehicles, air search radar vehicles, and guidance radar vehicles. It uses the YDG-60, YDG-64, YDG-65, and YDG-66 surface to air missiles to provide layered air defense for Army formations. It is regarded as a very potent system, incorporating top-of-the-line missiles and radar equipment. All combat vehicles in the Chŏlgung family use tracked hulls, giving the system components good offroad mobility.

In contrast to the Changgung air defense system, which is designed to protect fixed infrastructure, the Chŏlgung air defense system is designed to protect mobile Army formations and temporary rear-area installations. Chŏlgung-WR (long-range) and DT (anti-ballistic) battalions are used for corps-level area air defense, while Chŏlgung-JR (medium-range) is part of the divisional air defense battalion and Chŏlgung-DR (short-range) is included in the air defense battalion of a regiment or brigade.

Shared features

One of the major requirements for the Chŏlgung air defense system was good offroad mobility. While Changgung batteries can generally reach their targets on paved roads, Chŏlgung batteries must frequently operate offroad in order to keep up with maneuvering ground forces or set up firing positions in isolated areas. For this purpose, all combat vehicles in the system (radars, command posts, TELs, and TELARs) use tracked hulls. The Chŏlgung-DR family uses the JCh-6 MBT hull, the Chŏlgung-JR family uses the IMCh-J Koppulso medium utility hull, and the Chŏlgung-WR and -DT families use the IMCh-D Pokgunryong hull, itself an extended cab-forward version of the JCh-6 hull. In each case, all vehicles in a launch battery use the same hull type, resulting in good parts commonality and easier maintenance.

Another major requirement of the Chŏlgung air defense system was that it be able to withstand focused SEAD efforts. Offroad mobility addresses part of this requirement: the radar vehicles and launch vehicles can transition quickly between launch-ready and traveling configurations, usually in less than 5 minutes, compared with 20-30 for components of the Changgung air defense system. This allows for the use of shoot-and-scoot tactics, with individual batteries regularly repositioning in order to confuse enemy signals intelligence and prevent the use of satellite-guided munitions. Chŏlgung batteries typically contain a larger number of search and guidance radars than their Changgung counterparts, meaning that suppression of the battery would require a larger number of ARM impacts. As a final safeguard, the heavy armored hulls of the combat vehicles also protect the crew and internal computer systems against shrapnel from nearby bomb and missile impacts. In most cases the radar equipment or missiles are exposed and would be damaged, but the crew would be able to drive the vehicle back to a maintenance center, minimizing loss of life and damage to computer equipment.

The Chŏlgung air defense system was also designed to resist jamming and ECM efforts. All combat vehicles are fitted with the MChGJ-0802 SHF radio datalink, which operates in a frequency that rapidly dissipates in the atmosphere, making it resistant to jamming and listening efforts but also limiting its range to a few kilometers. Combat vehicles also carry VHF antennas for communications at longer ranges. For the greatest ESM and ECM resistance, all systems except Chŏlgung-DR allow the individual vehicles in a battery to connect to the battery command post with cables, though this is rarely practiced as it prolongs battery setup and stowage times and limits the allowable distance between vehicles.

Chŏlgung-DR

Chŏlgung-DR (Dan gŏri, "short range") is the short-range component of the Chŏlgung family. It consists of the JYBR-66 Chŏlsan-JCh TELAR and a battery command post with an air search radar. As a tactical-level unit, Chŏlgung-DR rarely operates as a combined battery; instead, it is standard practice to attach individual TELARs or pairs of TELARs to tactical formations in order to provide them with a localized air defense umbrella. When distributed this way, the Chŏlsan-JCh TELAR and its crew can independently acquire and engage targets with no input from a higher command post.

In addition to engaging jet aircraft and helicopters, Chŏlgung-DR is also able to protect nearby ground forces against precision guided munitions, including artillery rockets and air-launched anti-tank missiles. Each TELAR, however, only carries twelve missiles.

A typical Chŏlgung-DR battery consists of one command post and three firing platoons, each comprised of two TELARs. Only "4th generation" regimental formations are equipped with a Chŏlgung-DR battery, and even then, there is typically only one Chŏlgung-DR battery in the regiment's air defense battalion.

Chŏlgung-JR

Description

The TELAR and TEL of the Y64G1 surface-to-air missile system, also known as Chŏlgung-JR.

Chŏlgung-JR (Jung gŏri, "medium range") is the mid-range component of the Chŏlgung family. It consists of the Y64G1BR TELAR, the Y64G1JSR1 battery command post, and the Y64G1BG TELT, with separate battalion-level radar systems.

Each Y64G1BR TELAR carries four Mark 41 self-defense-length canisters on a rear frame that elevates to 90 degrees to fire, and has a YR-124 multifunction air search radar on a rotating turret structure forward of the stowed missiles. The Y64G1BG TELT (transporter, erector, launcher, and transloader) has the same missile launch frame, but with a folding crane in place of the radar turret. Each missile canister contains four missiles, usually YDG-64G or YDG-64N types, though in 2018 the Y64G1BR2 TELAR added compatibility with the YDG-66. This means that a single TELAR or transloader can carry up to 16 surface-to-air missiles. Smaller missile loadouts may be carried in peacetime or in low-priority sectors of the front line.

The YR-124 phased array radar on the TELAR model can search for air targets within a 120-degree-wide sector, and can traverse to scan a different sector, though it has a blind spot over the rear 60-degree arc due to the placement of the missile canisters. The radar has a claimed acquisition range of 100 kilometers against a fighter-sized target and an instrumented range of 150 kilometers. All missiles in the system use active radar homing with mid-course updates via a datalink on the TELAR, but the YR-124 can also illuminate targets to provide backup SARH guidance in a jamming-intensive environment. Alternatively, a dual-band (IR and visual) electro-optical unit on the right side of the radar turret can detect, identify, track, and range (via laser) airborne targets, though at a greatly reduced range compared to the radar.

Each TELAR can control and guide missiles launched from a TELT in the same battery. If another platform, such as an airborne early warning aircraft, detects an airborne target within its field of view but outside the TELAR's field of view, it can continuously transmit target coordinates to the TELAR, which continuously transmits those coordinates to the missile via datalink. This provides a limited cooperative engagement capability function, allowing a TELAR to launch without switching on its radar or engage low-flying targets masked by terrain, though the missile ultimately receives updates from the TELAR up to the moment where it activates its seeker to perform terminal guidance.

According to official Menghean sources, the Y64G1BR TELAR can transition from travel mode to deployed mode in less than 2 minutes, and from deployed mode to travel mode in less than 1 minute. This gives the system good shoot-and-scoot capability, allowing a battery to rapidly relocate after engaging threats or rapidly deploy from a road march if threats are detected.

Structure

It was initially reported that a standard Menghean divisional air defense unit was made up of one Chŏlgung-JR battalion with three Chŏlgung-JR batteries. More recent information, released in 2021, suggests that the current Menghean divisional standard gives each division two Chŏlgung-JR battalions with two batteries each. This arrangement may provide better coverage, as Chŏlgung-JR battalions can disperse more widely than Chŏlgung-JR batteries. For a three-division corps covering a 300-kilometer frontage, six Chŏlgung-JR battalions could be optimally arranged in a chain such that each battalion is at the edge of the nearest other battalion's coverage, creating a fully overlapping air defense grid which can survive the destruction of one battalion.

Under the new (2021) layout, a Chŏlgung-JR battalion has the following components:

• Command element (×1)
  • 1 × Y64G1DS battalion command post (crew: 6)
  • 1 × Y64G1R281 E/F-band search radar (crew: 3)
  • 1 × Y64G1R251 D-band search radar (crew: 3)
  • 1 × Y64G1DM battalion long-range signal lorry (crew: 5)
  • 2 × Staff transport car (crew: 4)
• Chŏlgung-JR battery (×2)
  • 1 × Y64G1JSR battery command post with search radar (crew: 5)
  • 2 × Y64G1BR1/2 TELAR (crew: 4)
  • 2 × Y64G1BG1/2 TELT (crew: 3)
  • 1 × Samsan S915 utility lorry (crew: 2)
• Missile transport platoon (×1)
  • 1 × Staff transport car (crew: 4)
  • 4 × Samsan S915 with missile pallet and crane (crew: 2)
  • 1 × missile maintenance lorry (crew: 4)
• Logistics platoon
  • 1 × Staff transport car (crew: 4)
  • 6 × Samsan S915 utility lorry and trailer (crew: 1)
  • 3 × Samsan S915 POL lorry and trailer (crew: 1)
  • 1 × light maintenance lorry (lorries) (crew: 4)
  • 1 × light maintenance lorry (tracked vehicles) (crew: 4)
  • 1 × field kitchen trailer (crew: 3; ride in lorries)

Another noteworthy feature of the revised 2×2 Chŏlgung-JR organization is the increased number of radar vehicles: four per battalion, or eight when counting the search radars on individual TELs. This gives the Chŏlgung-JR battalion very good radar redundancy, allowing it to withstand a large number of SEAD strikes or switch off many of its radars to resist SEAD strikes. It also allows the unit to advance or retreat in a bounding pattern, with half the radar vehicles operating while the other half move up with the division. The use of different frequencies and radar antenna types improves resistance against jamming and increases the probability of detecting low-flying and small-signature targets. Like all other Chŏlgung systems, Chŏlgung-JR can send and receive targeting information to/from a larger Menghean integrated air defense network, further improving targeting redundancy.

With the 2×2×2 arrangement detailed above, each battery contains 64 ready-to-fire missiles; each battalion contains 128 ready-to-fire missiles and 64 reloads; and each air defense regiment, and therefore each front-line division, contains 384 missiles, of which 256 are ready to fire. Using the YDG-64's official price tag of $1.2 million OSD (₩26.8 million), this yields a price tag of $460.8 million for missiles alone in each division. Some reports indicate that Chŏlgung-JR missile systems often operate with a reduced missile load, perhaps as low as half the full capacity, as a cost-saving measure, especially in low-intensity sections of front line. This may also explain the use of a 2/2/2 arrangement, compared to 3/3/3 with the YDG-37 equipped divisional air defense.

Chŏlgung-WR

Description

Chŏlgung-WR is the long-range component of the Chŏlgung air defense system. It uses the YDG-60 surface-to-air missile with a range of 165 kilometers. Three mixed Chŏlgung-WR/DT battalions serve in an air defense brigade at the corps level, providing a long-range and high-altitude air defense bubble. Chŏlgung-WR was the first component of the Chŏlgung air defense system to see service, and the first to bear the Chŏlgung name, entering service in 2009. The newer G2 version entered service in 2012.

The baseline YDG-60G missile uses semi-active radar homing guidance, and aircraft can evade it by flying behind obstructing terrain. To address this problem, the Menghean Army adopted the YDG-60N missile in 2017. The YDG-60N has an active radar seeker and cooperative engagement capability, making it more effective against low-flying targets and increasing the number of simultaneous intercepts which the system can handle.

First variant

Originally, the Menghean Army planned to use the IMCh-J Koppulso as the universal chassis for the Chŏlgung-WR air defense system. The Koppulso chassis was well-protected, had a proven record in service, and was also the basis for a number of other armored combat vehicles, including the JJP-152/48 self-propelled artillery gun. Army evaluators, however, were dissatisfied with this initial version of the Chŏlgung-WR system: because of the small size of the chassis, it was not possible to build a TELAR with both missiles and a guidance radar, only a TELT (transporter, erector, launcher, and transloader) with a self-loading crane. This meant that each battery could only provide terminal guidance for a single missile, using the command vehicle, which prevented the use of a battery-level air search radar. Furthermore, the battery-level missile transport could carry eight reload canisters, but it lacked a crane to load itself from cargo trucks, and it could not elevate and fire its onboard missiles.

This early version of the Chŏlgung-WR battery was structured as follows:

• 1 × Y60G1JSR battery command post (STIR 2.4 guidance radar)
• 2 × Y60G1BG TELT (4 × YDG-60 and reloading crane)
• 1 × Y60G1S transport (8 × YDG-60, not launch capable)

Second variant

As a solution, the Army ordered the development of a new Chŏlgung-WR system based on the IMCh-D Pokgunryong (Tyrannosaur) heavy common chassis. The IMCh-D is based on the hull of the JCh-6 main battle tank, but it is "stretched" forward with an additional pair of road wheels, has thinner side armor, and places the crew in a lightly armored cab overhanging the front of the tracks. The larger size and rear-engine arrangement of the IMCh-D allowed for the design of a TELAR with an onboard STIR 2.4 radar antenna, doubling the number of simultaneous missile illuminations which a single battery can perform. This change also eliminated the need for a guidance radar on the battery command post; instead, this vehicle was fitted with a 3D air search radar, allowing the battery to operate as a fully autonomous unit. Finally, the missile transport was replaced by a transloader with an onboard crane and the ability to launch missiles (though these would have to be guided by another battery vehicle).

This allowed for the following battery structure:

• 1 × Y60G2JSR battery command post (3D air search radar)
• 2 × Y60G2BR TELAR (4 × YDG-60 and STIR 2.4)
• 1 × Y60G2BG TELT (4 × YDG-60 and reloading crane)

According to some sources, while the TELAR and TELT are usually loaded with four YDG-60 launch canisters, each vehicle is capable of carrying up to eight. The additional canisters would be stacked in a second row above the existing four, using the coupling braces around the Menghean Army's modified Mk41 VLS canisters. A blurry still shot from footage of a Menghean Army firing range shows this eight-cell arrangement on a TELAR vehicle, and TELTs with this arrangement have been photographed in Argentstan. Independent analysts speculate that the eight-missile loadout may represent a maximum surge capability, with standard loadouts kept at four missiles during peacetime due to the cost of producing YDG-60 missiles.

One of the most distinctive features of the G2 system is the use of a folding tower for the battery-level 3D search radar. When extended, this mast raises the radar antenna 12 meters off the ground, extending the radar horizon and allowing the radar to see over trees and low buildings near the launch position. Deploying the mast with stabilizing wires takes 20 minutes; deploying it without stabilizing wires takes five minutes; and deploying the radar on the vehicle roof while the mast is stowed takes one minute.

Because the YDG-60 missile has a minimum range of two kilometers, each Chŏlgung-WR/DT combined battalion contains a tracked AAA battery to defend against close-range targets. This battery consists of ten BSCh-6 tracked APCs: one serving as a company command vehicle, and nine BSCh-6DGP models with DGP-23-2 anti-air guns mounted on their roofs. Each anti-air vehicle also contains six dismounts, a YDG-38 MANPADS launcher, and two reload missiles. In addition to engaging attacking helicopters and aircraft, the AAA APCs and dismount teams can also protect against light ground threats, such as special forces and airborne units.

Chŏlgung-DT

Description

Chŏlgung-DT is the designation for the anti-ballistic-missile component of the Chŏlgung air defense system. It uses the YDG-65 surface-to-air missile, which can intercept ballistic missiles with ranges of under 3,500 kilometers in their terminal descent stage. This allows a Chŏlgung-DT battery to protect a large unit headquarters or other vital fixed position against short-range and medium range ballistic missiles. The YDH-65 can also engage conventional targets, such as fixed-wing aircraft and cruise missiles, but because of its size and expense it is mainly reserved for fast-moving hard-to-hit targets, leaving conventional threats to other surface-to-air missile systems.

Because the YDG-65 launch canister is so large, Menghean design teams concluded that a TELAR with an adequately powerful guidance radar was not feasible. Instead, each Chŏlgung-DT battery contains a fire-control vehicle with an anti-ballistic-missile guidance radar. This radar has both search and illumination modes, providing semi-active radar homing guidance to the missiles in the battery.

Structure

In the Menghean Army, the Chŏlgung-DT system is integrated with the Chŏlgung-WR system at the battalion level: a typical theater-level air defense battalion contains two Chŏlgung-WR batteries and one Chŏlgung-DT battery. The individual batteries, however, are autonomous, and can disperse freely within the range of the battalion's radio network. Export versions of the system can operate either in this format or as a full-scale Chŏlgung-DT battalion.

Each battery is comprised of the following elements.

• Y65G1JS battery command post (2 officers, 2 enlisted)
• Y65G1R441 battery ABM radar (1 officer, 2 enlisted)
• 4 × Y65G1BG TEL and transloader (3 enlisted)

Reload missiles are carried on a Taekchŏn T512 flatbed truck, and loaded by cranes on the Y65G1BG vehicle.

See also

• S-300 missile system (Letnia)
• S-400 missile system (Letnia)