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KPA Exhibition of Arms and Equipment

Rain ruined my plans this Saturday morning, so I thought I would play around on Google Earth. Today’s target: the newly completed KPA Exhibition of Arms and Equipment in Pyongyang.

Pictured above (KCNA): Kim Jong-un formally opens the exhibition. Pyongyang Times coverage here and here (PDF).

It is located in Mangyongdae-guyok and is sandwiched between the Kim Il-sung Military University and the Sosan Sports District. The Google Earth imagery of the facility is too old to show the completed structure, but there is enough construction to be positive about the location. Below, I have used Google Earth to draw out more of the facility using North Korean video footage:

The work I did on the image above is based on video footage of Kim Jong-un’s visit.  You can see the video footage here. If there is anyone out there who is trained to identify North Korean military equipment, I would like to know more about what is on display here.

Visitors to the exhibit can peruse all sorts of armored vehicles, airplanes, artillery, and navy equipment. There is space for an open air orchestra and choir to perform. There is also a small train ride that travels around the exhibit giving riders the chance to get a quick glance of the KPA’s military machines as they pass by.

The video taken of the facility shows that at least some foreign visitors were welcomed to see the museum.  This begs the question of whether foreign tourists in general will be allowed to inspect the KPA machinery and whether they will be allowed to take pictures of it. Maybe there is even a bar?

According to the Google Earth calculations, the main exhibit hall is 117m x 73m. The second exhibit hall is 77m x 60m.

Previously, this plot of land was occupied by a football field and the remains of the long-defunct Pyongyang Baseball/Softball stadium.

 

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at 2:53 pm and is filed under Military, Tourism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

  • Matt

    When I first heard and saw this exhibit I thought it was constructed to show off products of the DPRK armaments industry to potential foreign customers to third world countries. Do you think this could be a potential use of this facility? 

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  • Rosamanson01

    There are a total of 31 Army Tanks and Vehicles from the 1950’s to the ealy 1990’s. These are as follows: 1992- Pokpung-Ho (Storm Tiger) (M-2002built in the late 1980’s. There is the 1987 BTR-80 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC- BTR Series). 1985- Type 85 (YW531H) also an 1985 PT-85 “Light Amphibious Tank System” (Type 82 or Type 85). 1981 Choma – Ho Pegasus. 1975 SA-11 (Gadfly)/9K37 Buk also the SA-13 (Gopher 9K35). 1979 Strela 10. 1978 BM-27/9P140 Uragan Hurricane – Self Propelled Rocket. 1973 VTT-323 (M1973) Sinhung Armoured Personnel Carrier. 1970 JA-6 (Gainful) 2K12 hub. 1966 BMP-1 APC replaced the BTR-50 Series of the APC. 1965 ZSU 23- 4 (Shilka) anti-aircraft system for pilots. 1964 BM-2 (Grad). 1963 122mm Model 1963 (i) – 30 D-30 122 mm Howitzer became the Soviet artillery battlefield system. Replacing the M-30 (M1938) 122mm Howitzer. 1963 SA-5 (Gammon) S-200. 1963 Type 62 – long line of NORINCO designs. Type 62 (classified as a Soviet “Light Tank”). 1963 Type 63 (WZ211) The Chinese NORINCO Type 63 is relative to the Soviet NORINCO build and designed as a PT-76 Troop Carrier. 1961 SA-3 (Goa) /S-125 Neva/Pechora. 1961 T-62 replaced the T-64 “Medium Tank” Series after the end of the WWII. 1960 BTR-60/BTR-60PB represents the final production version of the BTR-60 Series of 8 x 8 APC in the 1950’s. 1959 Type-59 NORINCO produced Type 59 which was actually based on the purchase and subsequent local licensed production of the Soviet T-54m. 1958 T-55improved version of the T-54 Main Battle Tank Series of 1949 intended to encounter the New American M60. 1957 SA-2 (Guideline) /S-75 Dvina. 1955 152mm Model /1955 (D-20). 1955 180mm Gun S-23 (180 mm NYWKA C-23). 1955 ZSU-57-2. 1954 M-46 (M1954) formal designation of “130mm Towed Field Gun- M1954). 1952 PT -76 ” Light Amphibious Tank”. 1950 AZP 5 -60 designed primarily as a 57mm single-barreled towed anti-aircraft defense system. 1950 100mm Air Defence Gun KS-19 which is a simple artillery based gun. 1950 BTR-40. 1950 BTR- 152.

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