Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur said the acquisition complements the country’s recent purchase of US-made HIMARS systems and strengthens deterrence. “Since multiple rocket launchers are of invaluable importance from a military capability perspective, I am extremely pleased that, in addition to U.S. HIMARS, we will now also acquire South Korean Chunmoo systems, thereby significantly enhancing both Estonia’s and NATO’s overall deterrence and defence capability,” he said.
Under the framework agreement, Hanwha Aerospace will also invest in Estonia’s defence industry in line with the contract’s terms. “As part of the agreement, the company will invest one-fifth of the total procurement contract value in Estonian industry. The initial investment should return amount value of €40~60 million to Estonian defence industry companies,” explained Katri Raudsepp, Acting Director General of the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments.
Hanwha Aerospace President and CEO Jae-il Son said the contract underlined the demand for systems that can be fielded quickly to meet security needs. “Our priority is to strengthen security in the Baltic region by leveraging our rapid production capability to ensure the timely delivery of these critical capabilities to Estonia,” he said.
The Chunmoo system is mounted on 8×8 trucks and can fire guided rockets with a range of up to 80 kilometres, as well as longer-range missiles reaching up to 290 kilometres. According to Lieutenant Colonel Meelis Laanemets of the Defence Forces Headquarters, “The procurement of additional rocket launchers will allow the division to significantly increase its ability to strike targets deep within the adversary’s territory,” adding that, alongside HIMARS, Chunmoo is “certainly a good choice for this purpose.”
