Estonia to acquire South Korean Chunmoo rocket launchers to bolster deep-strike capability

Estonia plans to enhance its deep-strike capabilities by procuring South Korean K239 Chunmoo self-propelled multiple launch rocket systems, the Ministry of Defence announced.

The move aims to enable Estonia to “strike the adversary deep within its territory,” bolstering the country’s defensive posture amid regional security challenges, Caliber.Az reports, citing Estonian media.

The Chunmoo system is capable of firing a variety of guided and unguided artillery rockets, adding significant versatility to Estonia’s artillery capabilities. The procurement follows a bilateral defence cooperation agreement signed by Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur and South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back.

“It is important for Estonia to have the ability to influence the enemy deep within its territory. To this end, it is necessary to increase Estonia’s deep-strike capability with additional rocket launchers,” Pevkur said in an official statement.

Estonia has already begun developing its deep-strike capabilities with the acquisition of American HIMARS systems, the first of which arrived this year. An agreement has been secured with the United States for the purchase of additional HIMARS units in the coming years.

“To further strengthen its deep-strike capability, the Defence Forces have selected Chunmoo rocket launchers manufactured by a South Korean company. A similar solution based on US and South Korean rocket launchers is also used by Poland, for example,” Pevkur added.

Poland’s adapted system, known as Homar-K, can launch various types of rockets, including ballistic missiles with ranges of up to 300 kilometers, according to public broadcaster TVP World. Pevkur revealed that the Polish Defence Minister has assured Estonia of Poland’s willingness to provide training and potentially deploy their systems in Estonia if needed.

“When all the details are agreed upon, both quantities and delivery times, then we will try to get a training program up and running with the Poles. We expect that within a two- to three-year timeframe, they will be present in Estonia. If negotiations go well, it might even be sooner, but by that time our own teams will have been trained. It’s a fairly similar system to what we did with the HIMARS capability development,” Pevkur said.

The United States previously deployed Task Force Voit and HIMARS to the Estonian town of Tapa in 2022 to train Estonian Defence Forces personnel. The task force departed last month to conduct a similar training mission in Lithuania.

Looking ahead, the next phase involves finalizing framework agreements. Pevkur highlighted the importance of ensuring a substantial portion of the procurement volume benefits the Estonian defence industry through localization.

“What is also crucial for me about this agreement is that a significant share of the transaction volume will go to the Estonian industry through the application of the principle of localisation. This means tens of millions of euros in direct investments in Estonia’s defence industry,” Pevkur said.

Technical discussions regarding the Chunmoo procurement will continue between the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI), South Korea’s export agency, and the manufacturer.

Estonia already has experience with South Korean defence technology, having procured 36 K9 self-propelled howitzers from Hanwha Aerospace, scheduled for delivery by the end of next year.

Looking to the future, Estonia plans to invest over €10 billion between 2026 and 2029 to develop a multi-layered air defence system, enhance deep-strike capabilities, improve situational awareness, and secure additional ammunition supplies.

By Vafa Guliyeva