Tactics help North Korea promote the power of aging T-34 tanks

North Korea's outdated T-34-85 tanks can be camouflaged, taking advantage of rough terrain to gain an advantage in war.

North Korean T-34-85 tanks in a parade. Photo: Naver.

US President Donald Trump declared on October 7 that "only one thing will work with North Korea", implying the use of military options to solve Pyongyang's nuclear problem. However, in the event of war, North Korea can still make the US-South Korean alliance wary thanks to its old T-34-85 medium tanks but used with reasonable tactics, according to National Interest.

The Soviet Union delivered about 250 T-34-85 tanks to North Korea in the period before March 1950, and then continued to increase the number during the Korean War. During this war, many North Korean T-34-85 tanks were destroyed by American M26 Pershing, M46 Patton and British Centurion tanks.

Experts do not have an estimate of how many T-34-85 tanks are still in service with the North Korean military, but they have appeared in many of the country's videos before 2012. Due to the isolation over the past 25 years, it is likely that the North Korean military still has a large number of T-34-85s in service, even though this type of tank is very outdated.

The T-34-85 project was initiated by the Soviet Union in mid-1943, before entering mass production in 1944. The biggest change of the T-34-85 compared to previous variants was the equipment of an 85 mm gun, to increase the ability to penetrate German tanks in World War II.

The completed T-34-85 was equipped with a ZiS-S-53 gun, capable of penetrating 100 mm of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) from a distance of 1,000 m. This gun could not penetrate the armor of American and South Korean main battle tanks, making the T-34-85 unsuitable for direct confrontation on the modern battlefield.

However, it can use piercing and fragmentation rounds to damage the tracks or expensive sighting and sensor systems on enemy tanks. That will disable the mobility or combat capabilities of US-ROK tanks, creating conditions for infantry or North Korean MD-500 helicopters equipped with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) to attack.

T-34-85 tank damaged during the Korean War. Photo: Life

The T-34-85's 100 mm RHA armor penetration capability allowed it to destroy many light armored vehicles such as the American Stryker and M2 Bradley, as well as unprotected equipment such as transport convoys. The T-34-85 could also serve as a self-propelled artillery piece, thanks to the ZiS-S-53's maximum range of 13.6 km. It could take advantage of the terrain to hide and close in on enemy forces, fire according to pre-reconnaissance information, and quickly leave the battlefield.

The T-34-85's front turret armor is only 90 mm thick. If confronted on open terrain or detected by enemy reconnaissance, this type of vehicle would certainly be easily destroyed by American and South Korean armored vehicles. That forced Pyongyang to apply many camouflage measures to limit recognition, as well as arrange fortifications and underground tunnels to avoid retaliation.

Building camouflaged positions near the front line is almost impossible, especially when conflicts break out with countries with strong reconnaissance systems like the US. Instead, the T-34-85 can be assigned to the reserve force, used in supporting infantry formations or defending strongholds in the rear.

The T-34-85 tank is one of the oldest weapons in the North Korean military today. However, terrain advantages and appropriate tactics will help them maintain a certain level of power, enough to threaten the US-South Korean alliance in any potential conflict, military expert Sebastien Roblin commented.

According to VNE