Simple question about North Korea/South Korea, but I can't seem to find an answer.

[Adsos Letter]

Among all the reports of the North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island have been photos showing direct hits on South Korean artillery emplacements, suggesting the North had those sites identified and zeroed (I suppose they could have adjusted onto them or struck them in the course of the general bombardment, but I suspect pre-determined satellite/gps assist is more likely).

We keep hearing that the South responded with its own artillery, but I haven't heard any reports about what they targeted, or if they hit their intended targets. I'm curious as to whether or not they used RADAR/some other form of counter-battery fire control system to target the North Korean gun positions doing the actual firing.

Simple question an old artilleryman is interested in.

[oneshooter]

1. I spent some time on the DMZ a lot of years ago.

Basicly we know where their stuff is, and they know where ours are.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[TheWraith]

2. I would imagine that they did use RADAR or LIDAR for guiding counter-battery fire.

South Korea has some amazing technical capabilities, and with the threat posed by NK artillery, I can't possibly imagine that they wouldn't apply the most sophisticated available techniques to track incoming fire and retaliate.

However, since North Korea is, well, North Korea, there's no media there to report on what was hit, nobody is allowed to take pictures, and even if they did, no one is allowed to leave with them. So the only people who know whether the South Koreans hit anything are the North Koreans and anyone with spy satellites in the area.

[Posteritatis]

5. Counterbattery fire in general just sort of boggles me

I know intellectually how it works, both in the current radar form and the sound-based methods they used back when artillery first became ubiquitous, but being able to plot that sort of thing on the fly in those conditions with "drop a shell on this particular gun" levels of accuracy still feels almost like sorcery to me.

[Adsos Letter]

3. Thanks for the answers. That probably about sums it up.

[Posteritatis]

4. I'd assume a mix of that and a lot of the stuff being static

North Korea's fond of long-prepared positions for at least some of their gear, which wouldn't be too hard to pin down in both senses of the word.

I did hear some mentions shortly after the artillery duel that the South Koreans thoroughly wrecked the North Korean position, but I'm not sure how much there is in the way of confirming that - or if there was, if the military authorities have much of an interest in making any details on the results public.

I did see a photo of a North Korean artillery round that struck as a dud and looked like it shed some fins on impact, which I assume means it's something more elaborate than a generic shell and had some sort of guidance. (Twelfth picture in this Big Picture photo set on the shootout.) I'm pretty bad at shell recognition though, so I'm open to correction.

[Adsos Letter]

7. virginia mountainman suggests the use of 122mm MLRS

so that would account for the fins, and the generally indiscriminate level of destruction. Fins could also be guidance, or some kind of RAP, I suppose, but the MLRS seems convincing.

[virginia mountainman]

6. I would say..

Both sides have every inch around the DMZ, and for several miles in from it, pre-ranged.

North Korean is a closed society, from what I have heard their was some damage done by the South Korean's counter-battery fire, but the North Koreans will never talk about it. The South Koreans sent allot of ordnance "over" but their was no eyes on the ground and only 3 155mm guns took part, One day I bet, Satellite pics will get released, and we will know more.

The South Korean's answered back with 6, 155mm SP guns But two where damaged in the initial barrage and one went out of action shortly with a round stuck in the chamber, and only 3 fired through out...

The North Korean's reportedly used a 122mm MLRS rocket system and coastal artillery batteries

The South was completely outgunned, and in the end, took a beating.

[Adsos Letter]

8. "The North Korean's reportedly used a 122mm MLRS rocket system..."

Yeah; that would account for a lot of what I saw in the photos, including the generally indiscriminate destruction of the town.

"The South Korean's answered back...one went out of action shortly with a round stuck in the chamber."
My time on M109A1 155mm's tells me the middle of an artillery duel is no place to have to punch a round out of the tube. :scared:

Thanks for the insights, virginia mountainman.

[Old Troop]

9. I would be surprised if the ROK Army doesn't have

Q36 or Q37 type counterbattery systems.

[Adsos Letter]

11. The technical advances in the artillery arm of Combat Arms since my day are amazing

I took my initial training on the old M114 155mm howitzer (towed). As I recall, it had "Redstone Arsenal, 1944" stamped into the gun carriage. Advanced to the M109A1 track when I went to Germany in the early 1970's.

Artillery today has gone way beyond those times, as has all the military.

[Old Troop]

10. I would be surprised if the ROK Army doesn't have

Q36 or Q37 type counterbattery systems.

[doc03]

12. For those that have been to Korea. If the North made an all out

attack on the South would we have any other alternative than nuke them?