Long-range Artillery Research Articles

Impact and consequences of military actions for nature protection areas and objects of the nature reserve fund within the boundaries of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” lands

The study analyzed data on the negative impact of military actions on the objects of the nature reserve fund under the management of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” within the forest offices as of March 1, 2024. The impact of military actions on Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) objects was analyzed according to ten factors. It was established that out of the 9 Forest offices of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, the negative impact of military operations on NRF objects was noted in the territory of the Southern, Eastern, Slobozhansky, Northern and Capital forest offices.45 objects of the Nature Reserve Fund, which are located on the lands of forestry purpose, and are in permanent use of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” with a total area of 36,441.0 hectares, were negatively affected by the military operations. Most often, the territories of the objects of the nature reserve fund were negatively affected by military operations as a result of damage by aerial bombardment and shelling of long-range artillery, missiles, UAVs (37 objects) and the basing of military units (40 objects). The 19 NRF objects were affected by three or more negative factors of military operations, which included explosions of various ammunition, rockets and mines, most often accompanied by bullets and fragments of ammunition that exploded, as well as the fall of downed aircraft and missiles. The construction of engineering fortifications and the uncontrolled felling of trees often accompanied the movement of military equipment.The amount of damage to the objects of the nature reserve fund was calculated for 6 objects of the NRF on the territory of the Southern and Eastern forest offices and totals UAH 817,272.44. For 39 NRF objects, the amount of damages has not yet been calculated due to limited access and the impossibility of conducting relevant surveys and examinations and remains an urgent task.In order to eliminate the consequences of the negative impact of military operations on the NRF objects, it is necessary to calculate the damage caused to the environment, carry out demining. An important task is to conduct an inspection of the protected areas for the presence of explosive objects, as well as carry out the necessary sanitary felling to prevent the mass reproduction of pests on the dead and weakened trees damaged by fires.

MILITARY ECOCIDE IN UKRAINE AS A DESTRUCTIVE CONSEQUENCE OF THE USE OF RUSSIAN MISSILES AND PROJECTILES

Effectively, russia’s aggression against Ukraine can be considered the first case of intentional ecocide during wartime in this century. Through its actions, russia has caused massive destruction of the animal and plant world, pollution of the atmosphere, Ukrainian fertile lands, and water resources. According to calculations by the working group at the State Environmental Inspection, as of January 2023, the ecological damage to Ukraine during the 11 months of russian military aggression amounts to over 1 trillion 743 billion hryvnias, or over 47.6 billion dollars. This sum includes hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of ruined soil and devastated lands, forest fires, emissions of poisonous substances into the atmosphere, destruction of animals, alterations to the migratory paths of birds, and more. The top five regions most affected by ecocide in Ukraine are Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
 The study of war ecocide crimes allows to systematise them by the following features: air pollution, soil pollution, destruction of green spaces, destruction of wildlife, water pollution, unauthorized use of subsoil, and disruption of ecosystems Since the beginning of the full-scale armed aggression by russian occupation forces on objects within the 71 territory of Ukraine, almost 6,500 missile strikes and nearly 3,500 aerial strikes have been carried out, resulting in environmental damage.
 Missiles launched onto Ukrainian territory carry hundreds and thousands of kilograms of chemical substances. In case of complete combustion and dispersion of remnants into the surrounding environment, they pose significant pollution and are toxic to all living beings.
 The destruction of the upper fertile layer of soil, which has been forming over centuries, occurs as a result of missile explosions, artillery shells of various types, cluster bombs, drones, mines, and various types of multiple rocket launchers.
 A significant problem is the contamination of soil with chemical substances, leading to a reduction in fertility and causing harm to both humans and animals living in polluted areas. In substantial areas of Ukraine, there is considerable damage to the surface layer of the soil due to the burning of munitions. The detonation of missiles, artillery shells, cluster bombs results in the release of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen, as well as a large amount of toxic organic compounds, which then enter the soil.
 According to assessments from the Kyiv School of Economics and Zoï Environment Network, a total of 186,000 km2 of land, nearly 31% of Ukraine's territory, is at risk of damage and pollution. Among them, over 20,000 km2 are damaged by more than 75% In addition to missiles, the aggressor country employs projectiles of various calibers and cluster bombs, the detonation of which causes environmental destruction, including damage to buildings, structures, industrial facilities, soil, wildlife, and ecosystems. Ukrainian land has transformed into a horrifying testing ground for various types of weaponry, including long-range artillery, salvo fire systems, phosphorus bombs, and guided missiles.
 A threatening issue is the replacement of territories, particularly agricultural lands. A mined area loses its intended purpose and cannot be utilized for a long period. Additionally, the demining of such territory requires substantial expenses.
 Therefore, russian missiles and projectiles pose a deadly threat to humans, animals, plants, harm the environment, devastate soil, water bodies, forests, destroy infrastructure, alter landscapes, and dismantle ecosystems.
 Thus, the investigation of war ecocide crimes involving russian missiles and projectiles allows the conclusion that these are extremely harmful actions resulting from military aggression. Those who perpetrate them are well aware of the serious and irreversible long-term damage inflicted on the environment.

DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPROVING THE WEAR RESISTANCE OF THE WORKING SURFACES OF RIFLED BARRELS OF ARTILLERY SYSTEMS AND INCREASE THEIR RESOURCE

The accuracy of the damage and the outcome of the battle depend on the durable wear resistance of the inner surface of the artillery barrels. When fired, there is close contact between the surface of the barrel and the rings of softer metal on the projectile (this is for the tightness of the system), which leads to their active abrasion. True, the softer surfaces of the rings on the projectile wear more, but with such rapid mutual movement of the surfaces, the harder materials of the barrel also wear. As a result, the tightness of the powder gases is violated and, accordingly, the power of the shot and the flight range of the projectile, as well as the amplitude of the oscillation of the projectile during its passage through the barrel increases. This in turn affects the accuracy of hitting the target, especially at long distances. For close combat, this is not a big problem, but long-range artillery systems are most important now. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to develop a technology for manufacturing a cannon barrel with the most wear-resistant inner surface. At the same time, a brief review of artillery systems, which are currently used mainly in the Russian-Ukrainian war, is made. The scheme of the manufacturing technology of rifled tank barrels with an increased resource of aiming lesions is described. The methodology is based on the technology of their surface hardening with high-frequency currents and grinding of microcracks, which appear as a result, developed by the authors. The main factors that ensure a high resource of barrels according to the technology are their high heat resistance and wear resistance. Heat resistance is achieved by optimizing the material on the samples, wear resistance by optimizing the parameters of the surface hardening technology of the inner surface of the barrel. The method of calculating the survivability of the barrel is given, when after hardening and grinding of the barrel, a micro crack remained on its inner surface.

The Borderlands

The Borderlands

Rach Cat Fort in the French estuaries and coastal defense system in Cochinchine in the early 20th century: Historical value and potential for tourism development

The article focuses on studying Rach Cat Fort – which is considered the largest French military fortress in Indochina in the French estuaries and coastal defense system in Cochinchine during the colonial period. Based on the research results, the article suggests some solutions to promote the value of Rach Cat Fort for tourism development. Based on primary and secondary data sources along with specialized research methods and other research manipulations, the research has clarified the strategy of French colony after occupying the entire Cochinchine province. Due to the fearness of the spreading risk of World War I and in order to protect Saigon – the capital of the six southern provinces of Cochinchine from the eyes of Western countries, the French chose Long Huu islet (Can Duoc district, Long An province) – a “special location” at the mouths of three great rivers to build a military fortress called Ouvrage du Rach Cat (Rach Cat Fort). Along with other defensive works in Cochinchine, Rach Cat fortress became an important link in the defense system along the coast and estuaries, helping the French control all navigation into Saigon and down to the South, West and part of Vung Tau sea area with long-range artillery. This would made contributions to controlling the maritime route from Saigon to other countries in the region. After nearly 120 years of existence, Rach Cat Fort is still quite intact, is a prime example of western garrison architecture and classified as a national relic with great potential for tourism development.

Reinforcement Learning-based Dynamic Weapon Assignment to Multi-Caliber Long-Range Artillery Attacks

Reinforcement Learning-based Dynamic Weapon Assignment to Multi-Caliber Long-Range Artillery Attacks

한국형 아이언돔 조기 확보 필요에 관한 연구

Iron Dome is a defensive weapon that intercepts long-range artillery in the form of a round roof. Israel has already developed and deployed iron dome in 2011. In the Gaza war, Israel was able to defend about 90% of Israel’s important facilities and assets thanks to the deployment of Iron Dome. Ministry of National Defense announced plans to launch a mid-term defense plan to develop a Korean iron dome to provide defense against North Korea’s long-range artillery. However Korean iron dome will be developed in the late 2020s or early 2030s. ADD is making efforts to shorten the minimum of 3-5 years by establishing a missile researcher at the Defense Science Research Institute to speed up the power generation period. In April 2022, Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that it would develop a Korean-style iron dome by 2029 and deploy it by 2035. There are various opinions as to whether the Iron Dome is the most suitable weapon for North Korea’s long-range artillery, but the most certain is that it is a weapon evaluated as the best weapon in the current situation. If Iron Dome is not developed domestically, it may lead to dependence on foreign arms imports or to limit the acquisition of domestic military technology. Now we need to get away from the idea of leaving it in a loophole in defense. Korea needs to pursue practicality because it is to increase the national interest in the true sense of raising the capacity of the nation.

장사정포 요격체계 교전통제소 명령 할당 방식에 따른 효과도 분석

A long-range artillery intercept system is under development to counter the North Korean long-range artillery threat. Simultaneous engagement capability is very important because this system, which consists of radar, engagement control station, and missile launcher, has to deal with a large number of enemy fire rounds in a short time. In this study, we propose a command assignment method for the control center to improve the effectiveness of the long-range artillery intercept system. The proposed algorithm considers the interceptable shoot time of missiles according to the trajectory of the enemy and the possible schedule of each launcher. To verify the superiority of this algorithm, it was compared with the other two methods, distance-based and random. Experiment was executed under the assumption that that a large number of enemies were concentrated in a certain area, and the result was obtained by repeating 100 times. The results show that our method contributes not only to the excellent effectiveness but also to the efficient operation of the launchers. Each launcher fired as many missiles as possible and generated the least amount of idle time. The results of this study can be used as a reference for the long-range artillery interception system as well as other complex systems in the future.

Effect Analysis of Long-range Artillery Intercept System According to its Component Arrangement

Effect Analysis of Long-range Artillery Intercept System According to its Component Arrangement

A Study of Multi-to-Majority Response on Threat Assessment and Weapon Assignment Algorithm: by Adjusting Ballistic Missiles and Long-Range Artillery Threat

A Study of Multi-to-Majority Response on Threat Assessment and Weapon Assignment Algorithm: by Adjusting Ballistic Missiles and Long-Range Artillery Threat

The formation of the cultural landscape of Kamianets-Podilsky fortress stage transformations of the fortress in terms of improving the means of warfare)

The article examines 11 stages of the formation of the defensive system of the Kamenets-Podilsky fortress from the point of view of stage transformations (II - XVIII centuries). The main factor that initially influenced the formation of the concept of urban defense was the topography of the area. The old island town, surrounded by the canyon of the Smotrych River, had a natural protective potential from the very beginning, which was fully used throughout the Middle Ages. Subsequent reconstructions were supposed to strengthen the defensive parameters of the area. However, with the advent of long-range artillery, the former defensive advantages of the island led to the degradation of the fortress. The city on the island, surrounded by a river canyon, became a convenient target for enemy artillery stationed on the opposite high bank. All the disadvantages of this situation appeared at the end of the 17th century, when the city was captured by the Ottoman army after a short siege. In the XIX century, military engineers proposed to create a system of powerful forts on the opposite bank of the river, but the lack of financial resources did not allow this idea to be realized. As a result, the fortified city remained an archaic medieval complex, unsuitable for other military functions

USA and Military Security of Europe: Evolution of Approaches

Over the past few years, American military policy in Europe has changed qualitatively. Official Washington was forced to recognize the strengthening of Russian military power and the need to reconsider the role of the European command as a rear, designed to ensure the actions of the Central and African command. Of particular concern to the Pentagon is the Russian potential in areas such as air defense, long-range artillery, anti-tank ammunition and electronic warfare. The United States believes that over the past decade there has been a marked improvement in the quality of Russian troops, their combat readiness and equipment. Under these conditions, the American armed forces are losing their once undeniable and absolute superiority in Eastern Europe. The Americans had to once again increase the number of their armed forces on the European continent (though on the basis of rotation), increase allocations for “deterring Russia” and persistently demand from their European allies to increase defense budgets. OfficialWashington does not exclude the possibility of a large-scale military conflict with Russia in Europe. The new US Nuclear Policy Review of 2018 states that the Russian Federation is ready for the first use of tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

Options for an Electric Launcher System

Railguns are current-driven guns that allow reaching large muzzle velocities and energies. In the military context, the long-range artillery scenario makes use of these two capabilities to enable the launch of hypervelocity projectiles to target distances above 100 km. As of today, the most advanced railgun project is conducted by the Office of Naval Research, Arlington, VA, USA, and features railguns with a muzzle energy of 32 MJ. Such large artillery railgun systems with efficiencies above 30% are fed by a pulsed power system with a nominal energy content of about 100 MJ. In contrast to this, experiments with French-German Research Institute’s (ISL) most powerful railgun, PEGASUS, have reached muzzle energies of 2 MJ, only. The nearer future ISL has to answer two questions: 1) is the railgun technology adequate for a long-range artillery scenario? 2) can the railgun launch a hypervelocity projectile which is being developed by other groups in ISL? To do so and to support the development of the hypervelocity projectile, a larger railgun installation with a significant increase of the energy and free flight capability is required. In this paper, three different railgun systems were investigated using an electric circuit simulation code. The systems are referred to by the energy being stored in the capacitors as 25, 50, and 100 MJ. The aim of this paper is to investigate what masses can be accelerated to the relevant velocity range for the long-range artillery scenario by these different primary energies. The results of this paper can be used to aid the decision about the required size, with respect to the military scenario, of a potential future railgun system.

The NGL-60 Railgun

At the French-German Research Institute (ISL), several railgun setups are used to investigate different military scenarios. One compelling scenario for a railgun application is the long-range artillery. For this, it is required to be able to handle multimegaampere currents to accelerate heavy launch packages of velocities above 2 km/s and to do so as efficient as possible. The NGL-60 is a 6-m-long open-barrel breech-fed railgun with a square caliber of 60 mm. With this railgun, it will be possible to fully utilize the currently available 10-MJ capacitor-based power supply unit (PSU). To validate the concept of the NGL-60 design, a 2-m-long prototype was installed. Subsequent tests showed that the railgun design is able to handle currents above 2 MA without structural damages or electrical failures. After the successful test series with the prototype, the construction of the full NGL-60 started and is finished by now. In this report, results from the prototype tests are reported, and the first experiments with the 6-m-long NGL-60 are presented.

Inductive Pulsed Power Supply for a Railgun Artillery System

The power supply for a railgun used as long-range artillery is investigated in this paper. As described in an earlier study, an 8-kg projectile is accelerated to 2500 m/s in order to bring it on a steep ballistic trajectory. To further investigate the electrical behavior of the proposed 25-MJ muzzle energy railgun, simulations with two different power supply chains, each starting with batteries, were performed. The more conventional approach uses a capacitive pulsed power supply (CPPS), the other investigated option is an inductive pulsed power supply (IPPS). An IPPS was designed in detail and set in comparison with a design of a CPPS. Parameters such as size, weight, efficiency, maximum rep-rate, and maximum shots per burst are estimated. Results show that a simple battery–inductor approach promises to be more compact but CPPS would be more energy efficient. Results give valuable support with respect to several design decisions.

Helden oder Blutopfer: Der Umgang der Zeitgenossen mit den Gefallenen des Ersten Weltkriegs in Russland

Heroes or Victims of a “Bloody Tribute”? How Contemporaries Viewed at the Dead of the First World War and Rationalised their Death: During the First World War, heroes and soldiers who “sacrificed their lives for the Fatherland” were seen ambiguously in various segments of Russian society. The article analyzes the representation of those fallen at the two poles of Russian culture: in the official discourse generated by the high and middle class urban ‘educated society’ and in the ‘common’ discourse of villagers and urban dwellers who were culturally close to them. The study draws on official accounts, periodicals, popular literature, folklore (songs, poems, laments), peasant’s letters, and recorded conversations. The official patriotic discourse sacralized and romanticized the images of the fallen heroes. In the traditional rural culture, attitudes towards the death on the battlefield and the posthumous fate of those fallen were articulated within different discourses, to which the binary opposition “hero” vs. “not hero” was not central. Here, the war victims were often regarded as needless sacrifices. Not only were they believed to be lost forever for their loved ones and for the communities they had belonged to, but also as disadvantaged and facing trouble in their afterlife. However, at both poles the ideas were changing in the course of the war. In the official ‘romantic-heroic’ discourse, the emphasis initially was on heroic deeds of brave individuals and gradually shifted towards the image of anonymous, sublime and tragic mass sacrifice, producing a cult of fallen soldiers. The warfare techniques changed, and the widespread use of weapons of mass destruction and of longrange artillery restricted the individuals’ opportunities for showing courage and led to depersonalization of heroes. This depersonalization crisis was resolved in the official discourse by way of a gradual equalization of “heroes” and “the fallen”. The ‘popular’ front-line discourse took a rapid way from peasant fatalism and religiously motivated self-sacrificing victimhood, which was involuntary and not reflected upon, toward cynical and cold-blooded desacralization and depreciation of this sacrifice. These two discourses had little in common besides the religious motivation and the rhetoric of heroism. They were inherently different in terms of contents and articulation intensity. In a revised form, both discourses were later to be used by the Bolsheviks to compromise patriotism in Tsarist Russia and to develop Soviet rituals for honoring the “soldiers of the revolution”.

Creating Instability in Dangerous Global Regions: North Korean Proliferation and Support to Terrorism in the Middle East and South Asia

North Korea contributes to instability in the Middle East and South Asia through its proliferation of missiles and other weapons systems used as delivery platforms for chemical (and the production of chemical munitions) or biological weapons, including long-range artillery. Evidence also shows that North Korea has collaborated in the nuclear programs of Syria, Iran, Libya, and Pakistan and has provided weapons and training to terrorist groups in both the Middle East and South Asia (Hezbollah and the Tamil Tigers). Given the recent decision by Washington to take Pyongyang off of the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, the recent and ongoing activity by North Korea directly related to proliferation of WMD and the support of terrorist groups could lead to severe foreign policy challenges for the United States and its allies in the future.

JOEL A. VILENSKY. Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction. Assisted by PANDY R. SINISH. Foreword by RICHARD BUTLER. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2005. Pp. xxiii, 213. $24.95

If World War II was the war of the physicists, then World War I was the war of the chemists. The tremendous destructive power of long-range artillery shells accounted not only for the highest portion of the war's terrible and unprecedented death toll; it accounted, as well, for the predominant symbol of the western front: a deforested, cratered landscape dotted with pools of poisoned water. By war's end, those pools often were infiltrated by an insidious substance known as “mustard gas.” Mustard, so named because of its odor (it was unrelated to mustard seed), had been brought to the war by Germany in the summer of 1917. It followed in the grim tradition of chlorine and phosgene gases, also introduced during the Great War. But mustard was different: far more toxic than phosgene, it would—once vaporized—cling tenaciously to everything, and remain active for weeks. The gas masks that had worked well against mustard's predecessors offered little protection: soldiers now had to fear every step they took. Skin contact caused painful blisters; eye contact could lead to blindness (temporary or permanent); inhalation meant seared lungs, wretched coughing, vomiting, and even death. Within three weeks of the introduction of mustard, 14,000 British soldiers had become casualties to it (more gas casualties than in all of the previous year). Had the war lasted into 1919, an even more horrific chemical agent would likely have become known to the world: called “lewisite,” it was developed by the U.S. Army for the battlefields of Europe.

Fighting the Great War: A Global History

Despair at Gallipoli. Victory at Vimy Ridge. A European generation lost, an American spirit found. The First World War, the deadly herald of a new era, continues to captivate readers. In this lively book, Michael Neiberg offers a concise history based on the latest research and insights into the soldiers, commanders, battles, and legacies of the Great War. Tracing the war from Verdun to Salonika to Baghdad to German East Africa, Neiberg illuminates the global nature of the conflict. More than four years of mindless slaughter in the trenches on the western front, World War I was the first fought in three dimensions: in the air, at sea, and through mechanized ground warfare. New weapons systems - tanks, bomber aircraft, and long-range artillery - all shaped the battle environment. Moving beyond the standard portrayal of the war's generals as "butchers and bunglers," Neiberg offers a nuanced discussion of officers constrained by the monumental scale of complex events. Diaries and letters of men serving on the front lines capture the personal stories and brutal conditions - from Alpine snows to Mesopotamian sands - under which these soldiers lived, fought, and died. Generously illustrated, with many never-before-published photographs, this book is an impressive blend of analysis and narrative. Anyone interested in understanding the twentieth century must begin with its first global conflict, and there is no better place to start than with Fighting the Great War.

Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (review)

Reviewed by: Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies Leon V. Sigal (bio) Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies. By Victor D. Cha and David C. Kang. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. 280 pages. $18.95 paper. In Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies, Victor Cha and David Kang make a commendable effort to get beyond the bumper-sticker sloganeering that passes for public discourse in the United States to conduct a civilized debate on what to do about North Korea. For the most part, the book lives up to their aspirations "to produce scholarship on Korea that is empirically rich, analytical rigorous, and policy-relevant." Starting from very different interpretations of North Korean intentions, they end up calling for conditional U.S. engagement with North Korea. Kang, who teaches government at Dartmouth College, posits that North Korea has not come close to starting a war because it is weak and deterrence works. As it grows weaker, "the chances for war or unprovoked provocative acts becomes even slimmer." Having a few crude nuclear devices will not change that. Analysts who view North Korea as a threat, he says, smuggle in unwarranted assumptions about the irrationality of North Korea's leadership. Instead, Kang contends, "North Korea is truly trying to reach a modus vivendi with the rest of the world." Its reforms are real: it "is opening up and many of the changes are becoming irreversible." He rests his case for engagement on accelerating this transformation: "We should encourage this trend, not hinder it." Yet, why should Americans care more about how North Korea runs its economy than about its nuclear weapons programs? Any rationale for engagement that does not confront this question is ultimately unpersuasive. Kang sidesteps the question by quoting Marcus Noland's assertion that "through a policy of engagement either Pyongyang will evolve toward a less threatening regime, or engagement will undermine the ideological basis of the Kim Jong-il regime and eventually cause its collapse." Skeptics might wonder whether the regime will go quietly into that good night—or might worry whether an arms race might break out in Northeast Asia in the meantime. North Korea has genuine security concerns, Kang argues. A policy of pressure [End Page 170] will only make it feel more insecure. "If we really have no intention of starting a war in northeast Asia, let's put it in writing, conclude a peace treaty, and finally end the cold war." He never says what's in it for us. Why shouldn't we insist that it eliminate its nuclear arms and missile programs in return? Cha, who taught at the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University before joining the Bush administration's National Security Council staff, argues that even though deterrence is robust enough to prevent an all-out attack, "North Korea could perceive some use of limited force as a rational or optimal choice even when there is little or no hope of victory." Desperate to avoid collapse or dominance by the South, the North could lash out and launch a preemptive or preventive war. Short of war, it can and does use coercive bargaining—"deliberate, limited acts of violence to create small crises and then negotiates down from the heightened state of tension to a bargaining outcome more to [its] liking than the status quo." In the worst case, Cha says, the North could use "long-range artillery barrages, missiles strikes, or chemical weapons attacks" avoiding American targets "to hold Seoul hostage with the hope of negotiating a new status quo." Many of the examples Cha cites as evidence of this behavior seem ill-chosen. The 1994 shooting down of a U.S. reconnaissance helicopter that strayed into North Korean air space was hardly a case of a deliberate North Korean manipulation of violence. The June 1999 deadly naval clash was not the result of a deliberate provocation by the North to "extort concessions from a fearful ROK" but came about as the result of an interaction: after South Korean ships rammed the intruders, the North fired in response. So did more recent naval firefights with South Korea and Japan. Cha...