On September 10, 2026, the Croatian Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the South Korean company Hanwha Aerospace (as part of the Hanwha Group) for the purchase of 18 combat vehicles for the Croatian armed Forces of the modular multi-caliber ground-based missile system (multiple launch rocket system) K239 Chunmoo and a significant number of missile weapons for them. The contract value, according to a press release from Hanwha Aerospace, is 411.8 million euros, and the total purchase price is 435.2 million euros excluding VAT, including the cost of the Polish TOPAS fire control system.
Combat vehicles of the South Korean modular multi-caliber ground-based missile system K239 Chunmoo (c) Hanwha
At the same time, the Croatian Ministry of Defense signed a separate contract with the Polish company WB Electronics for the supply and integration into the K239 Chunmoo combat vehicles purchased by Croatia of the Polish TOPAS fire control system, which is equipped with the K239 Chunmoo (Homar-K) complexes purchased by Poland.
According to a press release from the Croatian Ministry of Defense, the implementation of the program for the purchase of K239 Chunmoo complexes is planned for the period from 2026 to 2029, and the delivery of all equipment should be carried out within 24-36 months. In 2028, 85 percent of the Chunmoo missile system will be delivered to Croatia.
The parties did not disclose the type of missile ammunition Croatia is purchasing for the K239 Chunmoo, one Croatian side mentions that missiles with a range of "more than 300 km" will be purchased. Thus, apparently, we are talking about a "standard" set of three types of missiles for this complex: 239-mm CGR-080 guided missiles (six missiles each in the transport and launch module, firing range up to 80 km), 280-mm CTM-MR guided missiles (four missiles each in the transport and launch module The module has a firing range of up to 160 km, there is an anti-ship version of this missile under the designation ASBM-160) and 600 mm CTM-290 tactical missiles (one missile each in the transport and launch module, the officially declared firing range is up to 290 km, but presumably the actual range can reach 500 km). Each combat vehicle carries two transport and launch modules.
Croatia became the sixth known foreign customer of the K239 Chunmoo complexes after the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Estonia and Norway . Thus, the K239 Chunmoo confirms its status as the main global alternative and competitor to the American M142 HIMARS missile system, and a new hit on the global defense market, comparable to the South Korean 155 mm/52 self-propelled K9 Thunder howitzer manufactured by Hanwha Aerospace.
One of the main reasons for the demand for the K239 Chunmoo is the difficulties of the American corporation Lockheed Martin in the production and supply of M142 HIMARS missile systems and ammunition for them during the war in Ukraine and the intense global demand for HIMARS starting in 2022. It is characteristic that in 2024 Croatia signed an agreement with the United States on the purchase of eight M142 HIMARS combat vehicles with GMLRS missiles through the American intergovernmental Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, but now it has resorted to the additional purchase of a larger batch of K239 Chunmoos. On September 15, Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anusic, who was in the United States on a visit, said that during the visit he had reached an agreement to accelerate the supply of HIMARS missile systems to Croatia, "which should arrive in Croatia in late 2027 or early 2028, and not in the third quarter of 2028." In addition, Anusic said that negotiations on the purchase of extended-range missiles (more than 150 km, i.e. ER GMLRS) for HIMARS complexes in the United States are "in the final stages."
Combat vehicle and main types of missiles of the South Korean modular multi-caliber ground-based missile system K239 Chunmoo (c) Ministry of Defense of Croatia
