Instead of waiting for their turn to receive HIMARS Poland signs contract with South Korea for 288 MLRS K239 Chunmoo, Korean wheeled counterpart of M270 MLRS. This was reported by Defence24.
Poland will receive 288 K239 Chunmoo launchers, each with two 6-missile pods compatible with HIMARS and M270 munitions. Plus a significant amount of ammunition for these MLRS. Unlike the Korean versions, which are integrated with the Doosan DST K239L 8×8 chassis, the Polish systems will be mounted on the chassis of Polish Jelcz military trucks, probably the Jelcz P662.D35 6×6 or the Jelcz P882.D53 8×8.
Poland will receive the first division out of 18 starters as soon as 2023. They will reach the 18th mechanized division. In the long term, Poland hopes to acquire the technology and produce missiles independently.
As a reminder, the K239 Chunmoo is almost like M270A1/2, but wheeled and of course compatible with GMLRS, ATACMS and some Korean-made missiles, including simple 131 mm missiles, which can be up to 20 in a package, and Korean ballistic missiles short (up to 290 km) range. It is interesting that two blocks of one launcher can be loaded with different missiles. At the same time, the rate of fire of the system is 12 high-precision missiles per minute, and the reloading time of both containers is 7 minutes.
Loading options for each of the two K239 Chunmoo launch containers:
20 unguided K33 missiles of 131-mm caliber (range 36 km);
6 unguided KM26A2 missiles of 230-mm caliber (range 45 km);
6 high-precision 239-mm guided missiles (range 80 km);
2 400 mm caliber missiles (under development, planned range – 200 km);
1 KTSSM-II ballistic missile (under development, planned range - 290 km).
In addition, work is planned to increase the range of 239-mm missiles to 200 km.
Interestingly, the Polish contract exceeds in number of systems the total number of K239 Chunmoo produced by Hanwha Defense from 2014 to 2022.
Technical specifications of K239 Chunmoo on Doosan DST K239L 8×8 chassis
Mass – 31 tons
Length - 9 m
Width - 2.9 m
Height - 3.3 m
Crew - 3
Caliber - 131 mm (K33), 230 mm (KM26A2), 239 mm, 400 mm, 600 mm (KTSSM-II)
Rate of fire - 6 rds/30 s (239 mm missile)
Effective firing range - 36 km (K33), 45 km (KM26A2), 80 km (239-mm rocket), >200 km (400-mm rocket), 290 km (KTSSM-II)
Armament – 20×2 K33 (unguided), 6×2 KM26A2 (unguided), 6×2 239-mm rocket (guided), 2×2 400-mm rocket (guided), 1×2 KTSSM-II (tactical ballistic missile)
Engine - Hyundai Doosan Infracore DV11K
Power - 450 hp. (340 kW)
Operational range - 450 km
Maximum speed - 80 km/h