Estonia has signed a defense cooperation agreement with South Korea to acquire the K239 Chunmoo multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), enhancing its deep-strike capabilities.
Manufactured by Hanhwa Aerospace, the Chunmoo will supplement Tallinn’s six US-supplied HIMARS launchers ordered in 2022 and formally received in January 2025. The NATO country, which borders Russia, is also in the process of procuring more HIMARS.
Diversifying suppliers is part of its initiative to maintain readiness while “awaiting exact delivery dates from the US,” said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.
The deal with Seoul includes a localization clause that will channel “tens of millions of euros in direct investments in Estonia’s defense industry,” he added.
Discussions on quantities, delivery schedules, and other technical details between Estonia’s Centre for Defence Investments, the Korean export agency, and Hanwha Aerospace are set to take place to finalize the framework contracts.
Apart from the incoming Chunmoo launchers, the Baltic country also operates K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers from Hanwha.
It ordered an additional 12 K9s in January 2023, increasing its South Korean-origin artillery systems to 36 by 2026.
Chunmoo in Europe
Once delivered, the Chunmoo systems will make Estonia the second European operator after Poland.
Pevkur told Estonian news outlet ERR that Warsaw has offered a training program, adding that Estonia expects to receive the launchers within two to three years.
“If negotiations go well, it might be sooner, but by that time our own teams will have been trained,” he said, noting that the process will mirror Estonia’s HIMARS capability development.
Poland ordered more than 200 Chunmoo MLRS in October 2022 to work alongside its HIMARS rocket launchers, and placed a second order for 72 more in April 2024.
It received its first K239 launcher in 2023, with the Polish Armed Forces designating the system as “Homar-K.”
In April 2025, Polish defense firm WB Electronics and Hanwha Aerospace partnered to produce Chunmoo MLRS missiles in Poland, expected to begin within three years, and includes plans for potential exports to other European countries.
Later in September, Sweden’s Saab also teamed up with Hanwha to explore integrating the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb into the Chunmoo system.
