On November 4, 2022, the final firm contract of the Armaments Agency of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland was signed in Warsaw with the South Korean company Hanwha Aerospace (as part of the Hanwha group) to supply the Polish Army with 218 modular multi-caliber multiple launch rocket systems K239 Chunmoo, as well as missiles for them. The contract worth 14.14 billion zloty ($3.55 billion) was concluded in pursuance of the framework agreement signed on October 19 by the Ministries of Defense of Poland and South Korea for the purchase by Poland of 288 multiple launch rocket systems K239 Chunmoo.
Design image of a combat vehicle of the Polish version of the modular multi-caliber multiple launch rocket system K239 Chunmoo produced by the South Korean Hanwha group, made on the chassis of the Polish military vehicle Jelcz P882 (8x8) (c) Ministry of National Defense of PolandAccording to the terms of the contract, Poland should receive 218 K239 MLRS combat vehicles manufactured by Hanwha Aerospace from 2023 to 2027.
The contract was announced by the Polish Ministry of Defense as the first stage of the implementation of the framework agreement of October 19, and the last 70 MLRS K239 combat vehicles out of 288 stipulated under this agreement should be produced entirely in Poland.
The contract provides, in addition to the supply of 218 combat vehicles, also logistical and training kits, several thousand high-precision missiles and technical support. Regarding the missiles, it is reported that both standard 239-mm guided high-precision missiles with an inertial satellite guidance system with a firing range of 80 km (analogues of GMLRS missiles) and long-range missiles with a range of up to 290 km have been ordered. It is known that the 600-mm KTSSM-2 missile with a claimed range of up to 290 km is only in development, and, apparently, its creation is planned, including at the expense of a new Polish customer.
The first 18 K239 combat vehicles (divisional set) with ammunition will be delivered to Poland in 2023 and will enter service with the 18th Mechanized Division of the Polish Army by the end of the year. All deliveries should be completed by 2027. The training package provides for the training of technical personnel in both South Korea and Poland.
Polish combat vehicles will use the Polish Jelcz P882 (8x8) automobile chassis with an armored four-door cabin, a Polish communication system and equipment of the Polish integrated automated artillery control system TOPAZ. Each of the combat vehicles will be equipped with two transport and launch container packages containing six 239-mm guided missiles with a range of about 80 km or one KTSSM-2 ballistic missile with a range of about 290 km. Under separate contracts, control, ammunition, technical support and technical evacuation vehicles will be ordered from Polish industrial enterprises for sets of artillery divisions equipped with MLRS K239.
In total, according to a number of reports, under the framework agreement on October 19, Poland planned to purchase 23,000 guided missiles of 239 mm caliber, including their licensed assembly. In the future, the production of key components and ammunition for MLRS is planned to be transferred to Poland. Rockets for Chunmoo (apparently guided by 239 mm caliber) will be produced by the Polish Mesko plant. In addition, according to Polish sources, the Polish side planned to develop packages for use from K239 for 122-mm unguided Polish-made missiles with a range of up to 40 km.
Poland's purchase of South Korean MLRS K239 is caused by the fact that Warsaw, apparently, failed to purchase M142 HIMARS missile systems in the United States in the astronomical quantities it desired, more than 500 (!) units. Recall that on May 26, 2022, Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak announced that he had signed a new official request to the US government for Poland to purchase more than 500 M142 HIMARS missile systems through FMS (in addition to the 20 already ordered in 2019) to form "more than 80 batteries of the Homar system". However, taking into account the fact that Lockheed Martin Corporation is only planning the possibility of expanding production to 96 HIMARS combat vehicles per year and with limited production volumes of GMLRS guided missiles to them, then, with the current high demand for these complexes, Polish wishes could only be fulfilled for a very long period.
The K239 Chunmoo jet system (K-MLRS) is actually a South Korean clone of the American MLRS MLRS (moreover, claims of illegal copying have been made by the United States) and has been mass-produced by the Hanwha Group since 2014. The K239 system is made on a K239L 8x8 wheeled chassis, and similarly to the MLRS, it normally has two six-shot blocks for firing modules as part of the launcher. Six-shot modules of 230 mm KM26A2 unguided missiles with a firing range of up to 45 km are routinely used (as the designation indicates, they are actually clones of 227 mm MLRS MLRS M26 MLRS missiles, the warhead is only cassette) or six-shot modules of 239 mm guided high-precision missiles with an inertial satellite guidance system with a firing range of up to 80-85 km (analogues of GMLRS missiles, high-explosive penetrating or cluster warhead). It is also possible to fire 20-charging modules of 131-mm unguided K33 missiles with a range of 36 km from the old South Korean MLRS K136 Koryoong (while shooting older 130-mm missiles K30, K37 and K38 from K136 is impossible). From K239. It is believed that it is also possible to use regular six-shot MLRS MLRS modules with unguided M26 missiles, however, apparently, the use of modules with GMLRS missiles is impossible (at least for now).
Recently, high-precision operational and tactical ballistic missiles have been developed in South Korea for the use of K239, similar to the possibility of launching ATACMS missiles from MLRS and HIMARS. In particular, Hanwha presented a 400-mm Chunmoo II missile with a range of up to 200 km (four missiles should be placed on the K239 launcher) and a 600-mm KTSSM-2 missile with a claimed range of up to 290 km (two missiles on the launcher). Both of them are still far from mass production, while R&D on the KTSSM-2 has just begun and its entry into service was previously generally planned only from 2034.
According to the plans of 2018, the Armed Forces of South Korea also planned to purchase 218 MLRS K239 combat vehicles. Poland became the second known foreign customer of the K239 after the UAE, which received 12 combat vehicles in 2020.
Combat vehicles of the modular multi-caliber multiple launch rocket system K239 Chunmoo of the South Korean Army (c) Hanwha
