North Korean state media says that the new MBT achieved 100% success in testing the active protection system during an evaluation personally monitored by Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has once again used its military propaganda machine to highlight a new advancement in its armored program.
According to state news agency KCNA, Kim Jong Un personally attended a performance test of a new main battle tank (MBT), presented by Pyongyang as a model capable of intercepting and neutralizing virtually all modern anti-tank threats.
The test, according to the North Korean regime, was organized by the Armored Weapons Institute of the Academy of Defense Sciences and had as its main focus the evaluation of the new tank’s active protection system. State media claim that the armored vehicle was subjected to simulated attacks from different directions and that the defensive system responded with a 100% success rate.
During the official release, Kim Jong Un declared that he was “very satisfied” with the results and stated that the demonstration served to prove, “by action and not by words”, the effectiveness of the new North Korean tank. KCNA also attributed to the leader the statement that the vehicle’s interceptor system would be capable of destroying “almost all existing anti-tank assets”.
In another part of the state coverage, Kim stated that no tank in the world would be comparable to the new model presented by North Korea. The statement, however, is part of Pyongyang’s official speech and was not accompanied by independent technical data, detailed images of the test or external evaluations that could confirm the actual performance of the armored vehicle.
The publication also does not detail which types of anti-tank weapons were used in the evaluation, nor does it provide precisely the location of the test or the complete technical characteristics of the active protection system. Still, the announcement reinforces the regime’s effort to project an image of military modernization on different fronts, including land forces, missiles and strategic systems.
In recent months, Pyongyang has intensified the disclosure of military tests and inspections monitored by Kim Jong Unin an attempt to demonstrate simultaneous advances in conventional weapons and deterrence technologies. In this context, the new MBT appears as another part of the discourse to strengthen the country’s defensive and offensive capabilities.
Although the official narrative presents the tank as an important technological leap, analysts tend to treat this type of announcement from North Korean state media with caution, especially when there is no independent proof or access to verifiable technical information.
Source and images: KCNA. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
