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Croatia bought Chunmoo after ordering HIMARS

Zagreb approved 18 South Korean K239 launchers on 4 September 2026, two years after approving eight US HIMARS. Delivery speed and industrial terms helped make the second choice.

StateCroatia
SystemLong-range multiple-launch rocket artillery
Mechanismprocurement and supplier delivery schedule
Croatia quiet port berth showing long-range multiple-launch rocket artillery equipment and a restrained supply-chain scene.
Representative reconstruction of Long-range multiple-launch rocket artillery in Croatia, reflecting how Delivery and munition-availability constraint shaped the documented case.

Croatia is replacing Yugoslav-era M-92 Vulkan and Soviet-designed GRAD BM-21 launchers with a South Korean system. On 4 September 2026, the government approved 18 K239 Chunmoo launchers. Its ministry put the value at €435.2 million excluding VAT and said the programme would run from 2026 to 2029.

The package is more than vehicles. Hanwha Aerospace is to provide launchers, rocket munitions and equipment; Poland’s WB Electronics is to deliver and integrate command-and-control equipment. Defence Minister Ivan Anušić said the complete package was planned within 24 to 36 months and called the purchase one of Croatia’s largest modernisation investments since the 1990s war.

Chunmoo did not replace an absent American option. Croatia had approved eight HIMARS launchers from the United States in December 2024, in a deal reported at about $351 million. Defense News said Hanwha’s delivery times, availability, prices and industrial-cooperation offer were among the attractions as other European states also ordered the Korean system.

The timing sharpened the comparison. The United States had warned of possible Iran-war-related delays to regional equipment, including HIMARS ammunition. Croatia is buying two long-range rocket-artillery routes, but each comes with its own ammunition, integration and supplier calendar.

The Chunmoo decision was not an improvised substitute for a cancelled American order. Zagreb had approved eight HIMARS launchers in December 2024. Defence News reported that Hanwha’s delivery times, availability, price and industrial-cooperation offer helped make the Korean system attractive as European demand for rocket artillery rose.

The Croatian ministry described a package of launchers, rocket munitions and command-and-control equipment, with contracts prepared with Hanwha Aerospace and Poland’s WB Electronics. Defence Minister Ivan Anušić said the complete package was planned within 24 to 36 months. The authorised programme runs from 2026 to 2029. Those are procurement facts, not proof that Washington denied Croatia HIMARS.

AI-generated representative image.