North Korea built its own version of America’s HIMARS system

North Korea tested three different weapons systems on May 26 under the personal supervision of leader Kim Jong Un, including a lightweight multipurpose missile launcher that analysts have compared to the American HIMARS rocket artillery system, a new 240mm guided rocket with expanded range, and a tactical cruise missile that Pyongyang claims can hit any target within 100 kilometers using artificial intelligence guidance. Kim called the results “a clear signal” of military advancement and ordered accelerated deployment to front-line units facing South Korea.

North Korea’s official state media outlet, the Korean Central News Agency, confirmed the tests in a report published May 27, saying the launches were conducted by the Missile Administration and the Academy of Defense Sciences as part of the country’s five-year national defense development plan. South Korea’s military had already detected the launches the previous day, observing multiple projectiles including close-range ballistic missiles flying approximately 80 kilometers toward the Yellow Sea from the Jongju area of North Phyongan Province. Seoul did not immediately comment on the North Korean claims about the specific systems involved.

The three weapons tested represent distinct tiers of the tactical strike problem that North Korea is working to solve against South Korea. The lightweight multipurpose missile launching system, which KCNA described as newly developed, appears in photographs released by state media as a highly mobile wheeled vehicle carrying a small number of launch tubes, a configuration visually similar to the American M142 HIMARS, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System that fires precision-guided rockets and short-range ballistic missiles from a single truck-mounted launcher.

North Korea first publicly displayed a HIMARS-type launcher at a military parade in 2023, and the May 26 test suggests the system has now reached a stage where Pyongyang considers it ready for operational evaluation. The significance of this resemblance extends beyond aesthetics: HIMARS has proven its effectiveness in combat and has become one of the most sought-after precision strike systems in the world. A North Korean equivalent would give the Korean People’s Army a mobile, rapid-response precision fires capability it has historically lacked.

The 240mm guided rocket, the second system tested, represents a significant upgrade to one of North Korea’s most widely deployed artillery platforms. The 240mm multiple rocket launcher has been a fixture of North Korean artillery forces for decades, with hundreds of launchers capable of saturating targets across much of Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan area, which is home to more than half of South Korea’s population and sits within range of North Korean positions north of the Demilitarized Zone. The previous version of this system used unguided rockets that, while devastating in mass salvos, lack precision. Adding an autonomous navigation system to the 240mm shell changes its character from an area-saturation weapon into one capable of engaging specific targets within the same range envelope. KCNA stated the test verified “the reliability of 240mm controlled artillery rocket with expanded firing range which employed an ultra-precision autonomous navigation system,” confirming that both guidance accuracy and range have been extended in this upgraded variant.

The tactical cruise missile drew the most extensive commentary from Kim personally. KCNA described a weapon that combines terrain-contour matching navigation, in which the missile’s guidance system compares its surroundings to a stored map to correct its course in flight, with an AI-driven terminal guidance system that adjusts the missile’s final approach to improve hit accuracy at the target. The missile uses a combined glide-and-propulsion flight mode, meaning it can extend its range by gliding unpowered sections of its trajectory before the engine resumes, a technique that complicates interception by varying the missile’s flight profile. Pyongyang claims the system can strike any target within 100 kilometers with high precision, a range that from front-line positions in North Korea covers virtually all major military installations, airfields, command posts, and population centers in South Korea’s northern and central regions.

Kim gave “particular praise” to the tactical cruise missile and announced its planned deployment with long-range artillery brigades positioned near what North Korea called the “southern border area,” a designation consistent with Pyongyang’s standing doctrine of treating South Korea as the primary military objective. KCNA added that Kim called for “accelerated efforts to modernize and strengthen his artillery forces so that no one can match them,” language that reflects a sustained emphasis on conventional strike capability alongside the nuclear weapons program that has dominated outside attention.

The pace of North Korean weapons testing in 2026 has been relentless. In January, Kim oversaw an upgraded large-caliber 600mm multiple rocket launcher test that analysts assessed as designed to demonstrate the ability to penetrate U.S.-style electronic warfare and jamming systems. In March, he supervised a live-fire test of 12 of those 600mm launchers. The May 26 test, covering three distinct systems in a single event, suggests Pyongyang is now moving through the final evaluation phases of multiple programs simultaneously, accelerating toward production and deployment decisions on a compressed timeline. KCNA also noted that all launch vehicles tested on May 26 had been upgraded with automated fire control systems suited to “modern warfare,” a phrase repeated throughout the report to emphasize that North Korea is not merely developing new weapons but integrating them into a doctrine designed for the current threat environment.