Kotra signs deal to export Chunmoo rocket launchers to Estonia

This photo provided by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) shows Kotra CEO and President Kang Gyeong-seong, left, and Katri Raudsepp, deputy director general of the Estonian Center for Defense Investments, shaking hands after signing a contract to export Chunmoo multiple rocket systems in Tallinn on Dec. 21. [YONHAP]

 
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) said Sunday it signed a deal with the Estonian arms procurement agency to export South Korea’s Chunmoo multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) to the Eastern European country.
 
Under the government-to-government (G2G) contract signed with the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments in Tallinn, Hanwha Aerospace Co. will supply six Chunmoo rocket launchers and three types of missiles over the next three years, worth 300 million euros ($351.5 million), according to Kotra.
 
The Chunmoo MLRS, designed to counter North Korean artillery threats, is a South Korean weapons system capable of delivering rapid, high-precision firepower using multiple types of rockets and missiles with varying ranges.
 
The deal builds on a memorandum of understanding on Tallinn’s acquisition of the rocket system, signed by the two countries’ defense ministers in Seoul in October. The Estonian government has announced plans to invest 10 billion euros to strengthen its defense capabilities by 2029.
 
The latest agreement marks the second export contract for the Chunmoo MLRS to a European country, following a previous deal with Poland.
 
In 2018, Estonia reached a separate agreement with Hanwha Aerospace to import the company’s K9 self-propelled howitzers.
 
Kotra said it is a contracting party to the G2G deal, which refers to agreements between government entities for the purchase of products, services or solutions, often used for national security, complex projects or urgent needs.

Yonhap