The Ministry of Defense has published on Flickr the first photos of a K239 multiple rocket launcher in Polish specification on a Jelcz 8×8 chassis. The photos were included in a photo gallery dedicated to Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak’s visit to the Republic of Korea for the official premiere of the FA-50 light combat aircraft flying the Polish checkered flag.
In mid-May, an announcement was made by the Armaments Agency, according to which three Jelcz 8×8 chassis had been delivered to the Republic of Korea. There they were to be integrated with the K239 Chunmu rocket launcher.
In addition, through the mouth of the AU spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Krzysztof Płatek, it was transmitted that the first shots of the new system would take place in Korea. After this stage, the launchers will return to Poland, where the integration of the Polish K239s with the Topaz Integrated Fire Control Set, produced by WB Group, will take place.
The vehicle captured in the photographs represents the first tangible result of the executive contract signed in November 2022 between the Armaments Agency and Hanwha Aerospace, a subsidiary of the Chebol Hanwha Group. The contract provides for the delivery of 218 units of K239 Polonized multiple rocket launchers on the Jelcz chassis, which will be equipped with ZZKO Topaz and indigenous communication systems.
Along with the vehicles, the Polish Army will also receive several thousand rounds of precision-guided munitions in 239 mm and 600 mm calibers (with a range of 80 km and 290 km, respectively), as well as training and logistics packages.
The K239 Chunmu multitrack rocket launcher is a South Korean rocket artillery system on a wheeled chassis. The name is also sometimes written in Latin as “Chunmoo” or “Cheonmu”. The Hanwha Aerospace product is the successor to the K136 Kurjong (Kooryong) system and the wheeled equivalent of the US M270 MLRS rocket launcher. Both systems remain in service with the Republic of Korea Army. It is also a heavier alternative to the American M142 HIMARS WWRs, which have also found their way into the Republic of Korea Armed Forces stocks.
A key feature of the K239 is its two transport and launch containers, which can carry various types of effectors, from 131mm caliber unguided missiles with a range of 36km to 600mm caliber tactical ballistic missiles capable of reaching a target located about 300 km away, depending on the needs. In addition, this design arrangement speeds up the weapon’s loading and unloading and allows the simultaneous use of two types of projectiles in the same launcher.
Antoni Walkowski
