Estonia has signed a new contract for three more K239 Chunmoo rocket launchers, lifting its total order for the South Korean system to nine and widening a rapid buildout of long-range firepower on the country’s eastern flank. The deal was announced on May 11, 2026, by the Estonian Centre for Defence Investment, which said the purchase is of “invaluable importance.”
The new agreement builds on a December 2025 order for six Chunmoo launchers valued at around €290 million. Those systems are expected to be delivered from the second half of 2027, alongside a second order for another three M142 HIMARS launchers that Estonia announced earlier in 2026. The first battery of HIMARS reached Estonian forces in April 2025.
For Tallinn, the attraction is speed as much as range. The country has been trying to secure rocket artillery faster than is possible with some other systems, while also broadening the number of launchers it can bring into service. The new Chunmoo contract includes local adjustments for driving legislation, and it keeps Estonia on a parallel path with HIMARS as it expands its strike options.
The original Chunmoo contract included three different missiles, and the latest order will allow Estonia to deploy the CTM-290 short-range tactical ballistic missile, which has a range of 290 km. That gives the Baltic state a tool it did not have before, as it works to strengthen deterrence along a border where military planners in the region are increasingly focused on Russia.
The industrial terms are nearly as important as the hardware. Hanwha is required to invest one-fifth of the procurement value back into Estonia’s defence industry, and the Estonian press release said that should return between €40 million and €60 million to local companies over the next decade. For a small country buying advanced rocket systems, the arrangement is meant to stretch beyond the battlefield.
Estonia’s push comes as Norway, Sweden and Denmark all say they expect to help defend the Baltic states in the event of war with Russia, and there are understood to be 76 multiple-rocket launchers on order across the Baltic and Nordic states. The result is a regional race to field mobile artillery that can arrive late but change the balance quickly once it does.
What matters now is not just that Estonia is buying more launchers, but that the delivery window is still more than a year away. By the time the Chunmoo systems and the additional HIMARS arrive in the second half of 2027, Tallinn will be counting on a larger, more flexible firepower mix already moving through the pipeline, rather than a capability it can use immediately.
