Croatia to buy 18 K239 Chunmoo rocket launchers from South Korea over extra U.S. M142 HIMARS.

Croatia is finalizing a €435.2 million contract with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace to acquire 18 K239 Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems alongside integrated support vehicles, ammunition, and training. The procurement incorporates Poland’s WB Group TOPAZ command-and-control system to integrate the platforms directly into existing NATO-standard architectures. This acquisition systematically expands the Croatian Armed Forces' long-range strike capabilities from legacy 20 km systems to precision ranges spanning 36 km to 290 km.

The €435.2 million procurement package covers 18 K239 Chunmoo launchers, associated supply and command vehicles, and modular guided rockets and tactical ballistic missiles. Replacing legacy M92 Vulkan and BM-21 Grad launchers, the system expands Croatia's rocket artillery inventory to 26 modern long-range units alongside eight previously ordered M142 HIMARS launchers.

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Croatia is preparing to acquire 18 K239 Chunmoo launchers for €435.2 million, complementing its eight ordered HIMARS with a system carrying up to twice as many ready-to-fire guided rockets per launcher. (Picture source: Hanwha Aerospace)

According to Jutarnji on September 3, 2026, Croatia is preparing a €435.2 million excluding VAT acquisition of 18 South Korean K239 Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), associated missiles, reload vehicles, command vehicles, simulators, spare parts, logistics support, and training, with the Hanwha Aerospace contract expected to be signed on September 8 and a separate WB Group agreement covering integration of the Polish TOPAZ C2 system. The procurement would replace the M92 Vulkan and BM-21 Grad launchers, whose practical maximum range is roughly 20 km, with a family of rockets reaching 36 km with K33, 45 km with KM26A2, 80 km with CGR-080, 160 km with CTM-MR and 290 km with CTM-290. Croatia already has eight HIMARS and 394 roughly 80 km rockets on order, so the Chunmoo would increase the planned long-range rocket-launcher inventory to 26 vehicles and add two range brackets, 160 km and 290 km, not represented in the HIMARS ammunition purchase. Payments are scheduled from 2026 through 2029, and 85% of the Chunmoo package is planned for delivery during 2028, while the number of missiles remains undisclosed.

The €435.2 million package corresponds to €24.18 million per launcher when the total is divided by 18, but that number also includes missiles and the wider support package and cannot be treated as a K239L vehicle price. Croatia plans roughly 100 personnel for the 18-launcher force, or 5.56 personnel per launcher across the organization, while each K239L has three crew members and each K239T has two; six weeks are allocated for initial training. Eighteen launchers would be twice Estonia's nine and 12.5% larger than Norway's 16, but only 6.2% of Poland's planned 290 Homar-K launchers. If divided into six-launcher firing units, Croatia would have three such batteries, although this organization has not been confirmed. A six-launcher unit loaded with the CGR-080 could have 72 guided rockets per launcher; one loaded with CTM-MR could hold 48 missiles; and one configured for CTM-290 could hold 12 ballistic missiles, illustrating the firing capacity available even before all 18 vehicles are concentrated.

The K239L is a 31-tonne 8×8 vehicle measuring 9 m by 2.9 m by 3.3 m, powered by a 450 hp DV11K six-cylinder diesel through an Allison 4500SP transmission. Its power-to-weight ratio is 14.5 hp/t, maximum road speed 80 km/h, fuel capacity 250 liters, and road range 450 km, although actual consumption will vary with terrain and operating conditions. The armored cab protects its three crew members to STANAG 4569 Level 2 against small-arms fire and fragments and incorporates CBRN protection, while ABS, run-flat tires, and central tire inflation support movement after firing. The launcher carries two separate modular pods rather than one HIMARS-size pod. The associated K239T carries four pods, enough to replace both launcher pods twice, and a two-pod reload takes roughly seven minutes, so one launcher with a fully loaded K239T immediately available can theoretically cycle through its initial two pods plus four replacement pods before the K239T itself requires replenishment. The launcher can also mix ammunition: one CGR-080 pod and one CTM-MR pod provide six rockets plus four missiles, while a CGR-080/CTM-290 combination provides six rockets plus one ballistic missile.

In comparison, the M142 HIMARS carries one ammunition pod with six 227 mm GMLRS rockets, one ATACMS missile, or two PrSM missiles, while K239 carries two independent pods. With the CGR-080, the Chunmoo therefore carries 12 guided 239 mm rockets compared with six GMLRS on HIMARS, giving it twice the ready-round capacity for comparable missions; it can alternatively carry eight CTM-MR missiles reaching 160 km or two CTM-290 ballistic missiles reaching 290 km. The two independent Chunmoo pods also permit mixed loads, such as six CGR-080s plus four CTM-MRs or six CGR-080s plus one CTM-290, whereas the standard HIMARS launcher uses a single pod containing one ammunition type. The M142 HIMARS nevertheless has a broader established missile family: the GMLRS reaches up to 92 km, the ER GMLRS extends beyond 150 km, the ATACMS reaches 300 km, and the PrSM reaches 499 km, although Croatia's disclosed order concerns 394 rockets in the roughly 80 km category rather than these longer-range missiles. The HIMARS is also substantially lighter and faster, with a 16.25-tonne combat weight, 94 km/h maximum speed and 480 km operational range, compared with 31 tonnes, 80 km/h and 450 km for K239.

The Polish Homar-K program illustrates the scale of ammunition procurement needed to convert launcher capacity into repeated fire. Poland's October 19, 2022 contract paired 288 launchers with 23,000 missiles in the 80 km and 290 km ranges, an average of 79.86 missiles for each launcher; against a 12-round CGR-080 launcher load, that quantity is equivalent to 6.66 twelve-round loads per launcher if every missile were hypothetically a six-per-pod weapon, although Poland's actual stock contains different missile types and therefore cannot be converted directly into a uniform number of salvos. More than 100 Homar-K launchers were active by June 25, 2025, and Croatia will use the same WB Group TOPAZ C2 architecture, while Poland integrates Chunmoo launch modules on Jelcz 8×8 vehicles and is developing domestic missile-production capacity. Estonia ordered six systems in December 2025 and three more in May 2026 for nine, with first deliveries expected in the second half of 2027. Norway signed for 16 on January 30, 2026, with launchers scheduled for 2028-2029 and missiles for 2030-2031, while planned Polish missile production is intended to supply European Chunmoo operators.

Croatia's 2028 rocket artillery force can therefore be quantified at 26 long-range launchers, eight HIMARS plus 18 Chunmoo, compared with the roughly 20 km reach of the 122 mm systems being superseded, while 18 Caesar Mk2 155 mm self-propelled howitzers are scheduled by 2030 and Leopard tanks and additional Black Hawks form other elements of the same modernization cycle. The K239 purchase raises maximum rocket and missile reach from roughly 20 km to 290 km, provides as many as 216 guided 80 km-class rounds ready on the launchers, 144 ready 160 km missiles or 36 ready 290 km ballistic missiles, and permits two different ammunition categories on each vehicle. But Croatia has disclosed only one side of the endurance equation for HIMARS: 394 rockets for eight launchers, while the corresponding Chunmoo missile stock remains unknown. Until the quantities and the K239T fleet size are disclosed, the precise measurable gain is therefore simultaneous firing capacity and engagement range: 18 firing vehicles, up to 216 ready guided rockets, and a maximum 290 km reach.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.