According to information published by the Polish News website "I.PL" on November 9, 2022, Polish Deputy Prime Minister, and head of the Polish Ministry of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak approved a new ambitious defense program with the national defense industry to integrate HIMARS and Chunmoo rocket launcher weapon station on Polish Jelcz truck chassis.
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HIMARS and Chunmoo rocket launcher pods will be integrated into Polish-made Jelcz trucks. (Picture source Army Recognition)
The agreement between the Polish Armaments Agency representing the State Treasury of the Republic of Poland and the PGZ-WWR consortium will define the terms and conditions for concluding the upcoming executive agreements regarding M142 HIMARS and K239 CHUNMOO multi-lead rocket launchers.
This new Polish defense program was signed by Sebastian Chwałek, the president of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ). In terms of value, this is the second largest defense contract for the Polish defense industry after the "NAREW" program.
The NAREW program was launched by the Polish Ministry of Defense to acquire new air defense systems including the CAMM short-range air defense missile systems and Piorun very short-range man-portable surface-to-air missile systems.
The integration of the American HIMARS and the South Korean Chunmoo rocket launcher pods will be led by the Polish industry in collaboration with the United States and South Korea. Citing Mariusz Błaszczak, the first K239 CHUNMOO launchers, mounted on the Jelcz trucks, will strengthen the Polish Armed Forces next year.
In November 2017, the United States Department of Defense announced that The State Department has made a determination to approve a possible Foreign Military Sale to Poland for a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) for an estimated cost of $250 million. The Government of Poland has requested to purchase sixteen (16) Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) M31A1 Unitary, nine (9) Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) M30A1 alternative warheads, sixty-one (61) Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) M57 Unitary.
Regarding the acquisition of South Korean Chunmoo MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System), on November 4, 2022, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced the signature of an agreement with South Korea to acquire 218 Chunmoo K239 MLRS.
The HIMARS is an American-made multiple rocket launcher (MLRS) developed in the late 1990s for the United States Army. The MLRS is based on a 6x6 truck chassis with a launcher station mounted at the rear of the truck. It can fire guided and unguided rockets at a maximum firing range of 70 km as well as tactical missiles at a range of up to 300 km.
The Chunmoo K239 is a multi-caliber rocket launcher vehicle manufactured by the South Korean company Hanwha Defense. It is based on an 8x8 truck chassis with a launcher station at the rear. It can fire guided and unguided rockets of 130mm, 227mm, and 239mm at a range of up to 160 km.
