Hanwha Aerospace signed the contract Thursday to supply 18 Chunmoo systems to Croatia, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The deal is worth about 640 billion won.
Croatia follows Poland, Estonia and Norway in adopting the South Korean rocket artillery system, extending Hanwha's reach across European militaries accelerating weapons procurement and seeking alternatives to traditional U.S. and European suppliers.
The contract also marks the first major arms deal between South Korea and Croatia and is intended to open cooperation beyond the initial weapons sale, including industrial partnerships and military logistics support, DAPA said.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic attended the signing ceremony alongside government and Hanwha officials.
"The Chunmoo system will significantly boost Croatia's defense capability and serve as an opportunity to expand and further deepen cooperation between our two countries in the defense and security domains," Ahn said.
Ahn separately signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation with Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anusic. The agreement establishes a framework for regular working-level dialogue and broader bilateral defense ties, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.
The Croatia order adds to a wider Korean push to turn recent weapons exports into longer-term defense partnerships across Europe.
Chunmoo has picked up three European orders this year alone. Norway signed a $922 million deal for 16 launchers in January, Estonia ordered three more in May only five months after its initial six-unit purchase, and Croatia followed Thursday with 18 launchers worth about 640 billion won. The three contracts bring Chunmoo orders signed in Europe this year to 37 launchers.
Poland remains the system's largest European customer, with agreements covering 290 Homar-K launchers, the Polish variant of Chunmoo. Hanwha also signed a roughly $4 billion contract in December 2025 to supply and eventually produce thousands of 80-kilometer CGR-080 guided rockets in Poland.
At Poland's MSPO 2026 defense exhibition this week, DAPA chief Lee Yong-cheol met senior procurement officials from Poland and Estonia and discussed expanding cooperation into joint research, joint production and follow-on logistics support, rather than limiting ties to equipment sales.
DAPA described Poland as a "strategic cooperation country" for Korean defense companies seeking wider access to European markets.
The agency also brought eight smaller Korean defense companies into a joint Korea pavilion at MSPO, alongside individual booths run by major companies including Hanwha Group, Hyundai Rotem and Korea Aerospace Industries. A total of 16 Korean companies were represented around the pavilion, underscoring the effort to build an industry-wide European presence rather than rely on a handful of headline weapons contracts.
Poland has been the cornerstone of that expansion, emerging as one of the biggest buyers of Korean weapons after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Large Polish orders for K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, FA-50 light combat aircraft and Chunmoo launchers gave Korean manufacturers their first large-scale foothold in Europe.
The subsequent entry of Chunmoo into Estonia, Norway and now Croatia suggests that foothold is beginning to broaden.
For Hanwha, the European expansion is particularly important because rocket artillery systems generate business well beyond the initial launcher sale. Ammunition replenishment, maintenance, training, upgrades and potentially local production can extend defense relationships for decades.
Chunmoo was originally developed as a central component of South Korea's artillery forces, designed in large part to counter North Korea's extensive long-range artillery and multiple rocket launcher arsenal.
The system can fire different types of guided rockets and strike targets at ranges of up to 80 kilometers with the ammunition cited by DAPA, giving forces both precision-strike and wider-area fire capabilities.
Croatia's order is comparatively modest next to Poland's massive Korean arms purchases, but its significance lies elsewhere as it adds another European NATO member incorporating a Korean weapons platform into its force structure.
AJP Takeaways
- Hanwha Aerospace signed a 640 billion won ($477 million) deal to supply 18 Chunmoo launchers to Croatia, making it the fourth European operator after Poland, Estonia and Norway.
- Chunmoo has secured three European contracts this year alone — 16 launchers for Norway in January, three additional units for Estonia in May and 18 for Croatia in September, totaling 37 launchers.
- The widening customer base shows South Korea’s rocket artillery exports spreading beyond Poland into a broader NATO network, with Seoul seeking follow-on business in ammunition, logistics support, joint production and industrial cooperation.
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