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Saudi Arabia uses domestically produced multiple rocket launcher ‘Chunmu’ to shell Yemen Houthis in aid of Hamas

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If it is true, it would be a successful debut in Saudi Arabia’s first real match… Additional exports expected

Korean-made multiple rocket launcher ‘Cheonmu’. [뉴시스]

The word ‘rhetoric’ often appears in the diplomatic arena. These are words that can be interpreted as ‘political rhetoric’, and although they are designed to be pleasant to the diplomatic counterpart or the public, there is no law that they necessarily correspond to actual actions. Even if a national leader says “ah,” the actual policy may be “uh.” This is the move Saudi Arabia is taking amid the recent prolongation of the Israel-Hamas war.

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Saudi Arabia criticizing Israel

Saudi Arabia strongly criticized Israel at the special summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Riyadh, the capital, on November 11. Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, criticized Israel, saying, “The occupation authorities are responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people. We urge them to end the siege of the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid.” Regarding this, most domestic and foreign media outlets evaluated that “Saudi Arabia is siding with Palestine and has established a united front against Israel with Iran.” However, looking at Saudi Arabia’s current military and diplomatic actions, Crown Prince bin Salman’s criticism of Israel appears to be rhetoric conscious of public opinion in the Arab world.

Since the start of military operations in the Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia has continued to use fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles to intercept missiles and drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels toward Israel. The Houthis, who control northwest Yemen, are sending missiles and drones to Israel via a route that passes over the Red Sea or the western coast of Saudi Arabia. A significant number of these missiles and drones are being shot down by the Saudi military before they even reach Israel.

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Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to US and Israeli air force aircraft. Recently, the United States has been carrying out limited air strikes in response to continued attacks by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria. At the same time, they are deploying air power to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Bahrain to stage a large-scale military demonstration targeting Iran. When the United States took military action, Saudi Arabia permitted the use of its airspace. As a powerful country in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia defends Palestine, a fellow Islamic power, and sends various relief materials, but in reality it is helping the United States and Israel carry out military operations with ease.

Sunni vs Shia, long-standing conflict in the Islamic world
The Saudi Arabian military leadership is listening to an explanation of the Korean-made multiple launch rocket Chunmu, which was deployed to frontline units on March 31. [사우디아라비아 국방부 SNS 캡처]The Saudi Arabian military leadership is listening to an explanation of the Korean-made multiple launch rocket Chunmu, which was deployed to frontline units on March 31. [사우디아라비아 국방부 SNS 캡처]

In a way, it is natural that Saudi Arabia’s political rhetoric and actual actions are different. The Islamic world is largely divided into Sunni and Shia, and they are hostile to each other, essentially labeling each other as heretics. The conflict between Sunnis and Shiites has continued for over 1,400 years, and Saudi Arabia is ruled by the Wahhabi faction, which is classified as a hardliner among Sunnis. We are literally bitter enemies with Iran, which claims to be a Shia suzerain country. Former Iranian Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, who became the absolute power of theocratic unity after the Islamic Revolution, effectively declared war, saying, “Saudi Wahhabism is heresy, and we will export Iran’s Islamic revolutionary ideology.” Supreme Leader Ali Hossein Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini, also declared struggle against Saudi Arabia, saying, “God’s hand of vengeance will grab the necks of Saudi politicians.” Hamas, the Gaza Strip currently fighting Israel, is a Shia extremist organization supported by Iran.

Saudi Arabia has long been fighting Shia extremist groups supported by Iran. The civil war in Yemen, which has continued since 2014, is a fight between the Sunni government and the Shiite Houthis, and many have assessed that it is in fact a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iran provided military advisors and weapons to the Houthi rebels, and Saudi Arabia helped the Sunni government forces and formed a multinational force to participate in the war. Since April of this year, Saudi Arabia has been leading peace negotiations with the Houthis, but the negotiations are still running parallel.

Meanwhile, on November 12, Saudi Arabia suddenly mobilized artillery and shelled the Saada region in northern Yemen. According to local media, the Saudi military fired dozens of large-diameter artillery shells this morning and intensively shelled the Sadaa area. As a result, five civilians were injured and several houses were destroyed. The Houthis did not take a specific position on the Saudi shelling, but local media criticized the Saudi attack, saying, “Saudi criminals shelled Yemeni areas, resulting in many martyrs and injuries.” Why did Saudi Arabia suddenly bombard Yemen while peace negotiations were in progress? The Saada region, a transportation hub in northern Yemen, is where a large number of Houthi rebel forces are stationed due to the long-running battle with Saudi Arabia. Houthi ground forces, as well as aviation and missile units, are deployed in the area to attack Saudi Arabia. Last year, when Houthi rebels attacked the Jeddah region on Saudi Arabia’s western Red Sea coast with missiles and drones, the origin of their provocations was here. In other words, Saudi Arabia’s latest shelling appears to have been aimed at the Houthi rebels’ missile and drone units deployed in Saada.

What is noteworthy here is what Saudi Arabia attacked here with. Saudi Arabia has so far preferred fighter jet airstrikes when attacking Houthi rebels. However, this attack was carried out by artillery, not the air force, and hit an area more than 40 km away from the border. Among the weapons Saudi artillery possesses, there are two types of weapons that can attack a distance of more than 40 km. These are the American M270 MLRS and the Korean multiple rocket launcher K239 ‘Chunmu’. Coincidentally, the Saudi artillery unit that was in range of Saadah that shelled this time is the K239 battery located in the ‘Najran’ area near the southern border. This unit is about 70km away from Sadah in a straight line, so artillery fire is possible without moving the firing position.

Saudi Arabia, which secretly imported 1 trillion won worth of cotton wool and deployed it to front-line units, first opened the K239 unit on the Yemeni border to the public in April, when peace negotiations with the Houthis began. The Chunmu imported by Saudi Arabia comes in two types: a 230mm rocket, an unguided missile with a range of 45km, and a 239mm rocket, a guided missile with a range of 80km. The reason Saudi Arabia is presumed to have mobilized Cheonmu in this attack is because it has a longer range than all types of artillery weapons possessed by the Houthi rebels, allowing them to avoid counterattacks after artillery fire. In fact, the Houthi rebels showed no particular reaction to Saudi Arabia even after being hit with dozens of artillery shells this time, and were actually unable to fire a response.

The reason this artillery attack is attracting attention is because if the artillery assets mobilized by Saudi Arabia are indeed Chunmu, this will be Chunmu’s first actual combat debut. Saudi Arabia’s intention appears to be to block the possibility of a retaliatory attack by the Houthi rebels and to unilaterally bombard them. If so, Chunmu had a successful debut that perfectly achieved Saudi Arabia’s operational intentions. Although it is worthy of great publicity, the specific truth of this shelling is highly likely not to be made public for the time being due to Saudi Arabia’s practice of keeping the history of secretly purchased foreign weapons completely secret.

Middle East ‘bow bow certification’ continues
Korean-made portable anti-tank missile ‘Hyeongung’.  Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a military parade using missiles in September last year.[뉴스1, 뉴시스]Korean-made portable anti-tank missile ‘Hyeongung’. Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a military parade using missiles in September last year.[뉴스1, 뉴시스]

Of course, ‘security incidents’ are bound to happen. It is natural to want to brag about a battle and a successful outcome. Perhaps for this reason, Saudi Arabia has in the past exposed to the outside world the existence of the ‘Hyungung’ anti-tank missile that it secretly imported from Korea. A Saudi soldier posted a video of his country’s military using a bow bow on social networking service (SNS). Until then, even the fact that Saudi Arabia had imported bow bows was a secret. This soldier said it was a ‘Korean-made anti-tank missile’ and even revealed the shooting preparation process, the launch, and even a scene of the target being hit and destroyed. Afterwards, Saudi soldiers began posting ‘bow bow certification’ videos one by one on social media. The bow missile, which was developed to catch large and slow tanks, showed off its power by catching not only the Houthi rebel commander’s vehicle running at high speed, but also a speeding motorcycle 3km away, which is further than the catalog range, like pincers.

This ‘bow certification’ came not only from the Saudi military but also from the Houthi rebel camp. Houthi rebels filmed a video attacking Saudi positions and vehicles with a captured bowstring and posted it on social media. When the Houthi rebels attacked their troops with bowstrings, Saudi Arabia supplied more bowstrings to the front lines and fired them in large quantities at suspicious targets such as vehicles, buildings, and positions. Hyeonbow is easy to use, does not require complicated training, and is highly portable. In addition, its accuracy and power were outstanding, so it gained great popularity in the Middle East following the Yemeni civil war through word of mouth. For this reason, bowstrings have been exported to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Yemeni government army and Azerbaijani army, which are in close cooperation with Saudi Arabia, are also operating them.

Cheonmu’s performance surpasses that of U.S. Himas

Although the Chunmu is not a weapon that can be easily distributed like the bow bow, which is a portable infantry equipment, it is receiving great reviews not only in Saudi Arabia but also in the UAE for its performance and reliability that surpasses existing multiple rocket launcher equipment. If the Saudi military’s recent attack on the Houthi rebels was actually carried out in an unprecedented manner, there is a high possibility that additional exports will be accomplished through word of mouth like a bow bow due to a successful debut in combat. The bow performance is similar to that of the American Javelin, the world’s best-selling weapon system. Chunmu also has performance and competitiveness that overwhelms the American MLRS and ‘HIMARS’. Cheonmu has better mobility than MLRS and can use a greater variety of ammunition than Himas. Equipped with an automated fire control system, the preparation time for launch and the time required to leave the position after firing are short. It is possible to use ‘hit and run’ tactics with multiple rocket launchers. As proven in the Polish export case, it is superior to MLRS or Heimas, has a lower price and faster delivery.

If Saudi Arabia continues the steps it took after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, peace negotiations with the Houthis will fall through the cracks. The frequency of actual combat use of Cheonmu deployed at the border will also increase. Attention is being paid to whether Cheonmoo will be able to make a successful debut in the Middle East like Hyeongoong did and gain word of mouth as the world’s best multiple rocket launcher system, opening the door to additional exports.

〈This article
Weekly Donga

It was published in issue 1415〉

Israel-Palestine War

Shin In-gyun, CEO of Independent Defense Network

Source: Donga

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