Chonma-ho

Ch'ŏnma-ho
Ch'ŏnma-ho V (Ma) during the Workers' Party of Korea 60th Anniversary Military Parade
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	North Korea
Production history
Designer	Second Machine Industry Bureau
Designed	Before 1980
Produced	1980 – present
No. built	More than 1,200
Specifications
Weight	40 tons
Length	Hull length: 6.63 m (21.8 ft)
Width	3.52 m (11.5 ft)
Height	2.4 m (7.9 ft)
Crew	4
Armor	Cast turret, spaced armor, explosive reactive armour
Main armament	115 mm 2A20 Smoothbore Gun
Secondary armament	KPV 14.5 mm heavy machine gun, 7.62 mm machine gun in coaxial mount
Engine	Diesel 750 hp (560 kW)
Power/weight	18.75 hp/ton
Suspension	torsion-bar
Operational range	450 km
Speed	50 km/h

The Ch'ŏnma-ho or spelled as Chonma-ho (Chosŏn'gŭl: 천마호; Hanja: 天馬號) is one of North Korea's secretive indigenous main battle tank designs. The tank is also known by the name of 천리마 전차 (千里馬 or the "Chollima Tank"). The original Ch'ŏnma-ho is based on the Soviet T-62. There are at least five different operational versions of the Ch'ŏnma-ho. Since its inception, the Ch'ŏnma-ho has apparently undergone several extensive upgrades. Little public information is available about this tank, and its most recent public appearance was the 65th Anniversary Parade held in Pyongyang, North Korea, on 10 October 2010, celebrating the 65th anniversary of North Korea's ruling party.

After the of the Korean War in 1953, North Korea found itself in need of much more modern equipment. Prior to the start of open hostilities, North Korea had acquired 379 T-34s from the Soviet Union. According to a report to the United States Congress in 2000, the North Korean military had up to 2,000 tanks garrisoned along the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) alone. This means that between the years 1954 and 2000 the North Koreans were able to stockpile over 2,000 tanks, including Soviet T-55s and T-62s and Chinese Type 59s and Type 62s. A North Korean general who defected to South Korea also said that due to a lack of fuel military exercises are limited. It is also possible that many of the older vehicles used by the North Korean People's Army are not well maintained and have suffered from years of disuse. This still remains true even assuming good maintenance, and the North Korean army would not be the only military experiencing this.

Although not much is known about the North Korean military after the Korean War, it is known that they have many different types of tanks. These include the Type 59 and Type 62, as well as the T-54, T-62 and possibly the T-72. The T-54 was probably sold to North Korea between 1960 and 1970, while the T-62 was reportedly sold in the mid 1980s. Unconfirmed reports indicate a few T-72s may have been provided to North Korea in the early 1990s. It is known that the North Koreans still make limited use of vintage World War II T-34s as well as the Soviet-era PT-76/85 amphibious tanks. Up to 5,400 tanks are coupled with at least 12,000 self-propelled artillery pieces and thousands of other towed artillery pieces of unknown type and quantity. The North Koreans also have at least nine different types of armoured personnel carriers, including the BMP-1.