Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak on Wednesday confirmed the purchase of 288 K238 Chunmoo missile batteries from South Korea. The first 18 batteries are to arrive in Poland next year.
“I would like to thank you for the very fruitful defence cooperation between Poland and South Korea. The analysis of the war in Ukraine underlines the particular value of the artillery. Hence, we decided to strengthen Polish artillery, emphasizing rocket artillery,” Deputy Prime Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said during the agreement signing ceremony of yet another South Korean military equipment.
Deputy Prime Minister @mblaszczak:
Today, in #Seoul, the deliveries of military equipment from South Korea to Poland were launched.
The first 24 #K9 howitzers and 10 #K2 tanks are being transported to that will reinforce the eastern flank of @NATO. pic.twitter.com/Uf0vc34Lw9
— Poland in the EU (@PLPermRepEU) October 19, 2022
Defence for Force and Resource Management of the Republic of Korea, and Il Sung, Deputy Minister of the Defense Purchase Planning Agency, the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense approved a framework agreement for the delivery of 288 cutting-edge Korean K239 Chunmoo launchers to the Polish Armed Forces.
Deputy Prime Minister @mblaszczak: Today, in Seoul, commenced the deliveries of equipment from South Korea to Poland . The first 24 K9 howitzers are being transported to Poland. Soon they will be fully interoperable with the Polish Armed Forces’ systems . pic.twitter.com/rZgYzvqNmC
— Poland MOD (@Poland_MOD) October 19, 2022
“In 2019, an agreement with the United States to acquire the HIMARS sets for the Polish Armed Forces was signed. The shipment of this equipment is scheduled for the next year. We submitted an inquiry for larger deliveries, but unfortunately due to limited industrial capabilities, it will not be possible for the equipment to be delivered in a satisfactory timeframe. Therefore, we started talks with South Korea – our proven partner. The discussion resulted in signing a framework contract for the acquisition of the K239 Chunmoo,” – Deputy Prime Minister M. Błaszczak explained the decision to intensify cooperation with the South Korean industry.
The K239 Chunmoo is a self-propelled wheeled multi-missile launcher capable of firing various calibres of shells. It carries two missile containers, each of which can contain up to six 239 mm guided missiles with a range of approximately 80 km or one ballistic missile with a range of approximately 290 km.