On October 19, in Warsaw, in the presence of, among others, Dongjoon YOO LIM, Deputy Minister of Defense 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.

“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 the signing of 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 calibers 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.

The head of the Ministry of National Defense emphasized that the capabilities of K239 Chunmoo are comparable to the previously ordered HIMARS sets.

“Chunmoo, in terms of characteristics, is very similar to the HIMARS. It is an excellent weapon. I believe that the fact that the first Chunmoo sets will be delivered to Poland as early as next year is the best and most tangible achievement of the joint Polish-Korean efforts. The next success is that Chunmoos will be mounted on Jelcz trucks, built by the Polish Armaments Group. The sets will be equipped with Polish means of communication and the battlefield management system. Thanks to that, the full operability of the equipment will be achieved as early as next year, so almost immediately upon their delivery”

- said Deputy Prime Minister.

He also informed that the new equipment will be in the inventory of the 18th Mechanized “Iron” Division.

“18 launchers, coming to Poland next year, will be delivered to the 18th Mechanized Division. They will serve the protection of NATO’s eastern flank, thus the safety of eastern Poland. It will be an appropriate response to the threats against our security. The goal is to effectively scare the aggressor, to show our strength so that the aggressor does not dare to attack Poland nor any countries of the North Atlantic Alliance”

- said the head of the Ministry of National Defense.

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The contract for the K239 Chunmoo launchers, along with the Korean defense technologies transfer, is another enhancement of the Polish Armed Forces. On Wednesday, October 19, in Korea, the first K2 tanks and K9 howitzers, ordered under the framework contracts of July 27 and implementing contracts of August 26, approved by Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of National Defense, were sent to Poland.