PARIS — Norway picked Hanwha to supply the army with long-range precision artillery in a deal worth 19 billion Norwegian kroner (US$2 billion), preferring the South Korean company’s Chunmoo system over competing offers from KNDS and Rheinmetall as well as the U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
Norway agreed to buy 16 launch systems as well as a “large number” of missiles, including munitions with a range of up to 500 kilometers, the government said in a statement on Thursday. None of the other commercial bidders could deliver a comparable range, Norway said.
European countries are looking to add long-range strike in a recognition that taking out enemy launch capabilities will be required to protect civilians and troops against the kind of massed drone and missile strikes Russia has used in Ukraine.
Denmark said in September it needed deep-strike capabilities for deterrence, Germany in July inquired after the U.S. Typhon missile-launcher system, while France plans to test a domestic HIMARS alternative by the middle of this year.
“The government’s priority is to rapidly strengthen Norway’s defense capabilities, and this acquisition will strengthen our ability to credibly deter potential adversaries,” Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik said in the statement. “Hanwha is the only supplier that meets all requirements for performance, delivery time, and cost framework.”
Land-based long-range precision fire is a new capability for the Norwegian armed forces, and the investment is one of the largest ever made by the army, according to Sandvik, who said the choice was based on a competition held by the Norwegian Defence Material Agency.
Poland is also buying the Chunmoo system and has signed a contract with Hanwha for local missile production, which will strengthen security of supply for European users, Norway said. Hanwha now plans to supply all European customers of the system, including Norway, with missiles produced in Poland, the government said.
Hanwha will deliver launchers in 2028 and 2029, allowing the armed forces to start training personnel, and will deliver missiles in 2030 and 2031, for an operational system within four years, Norway said.
The South Korean defense firm has offered industrial cooperation agreements with Norwegian companies corresponding to 120% of the contract value, the government said. Norway’s Kongsberg is one of Europe’s largest producers of missile systems.
Europe would need more than three years to build up sufficient long-range strike capabilities as part of a range of critical enablers required to deter Russia without the United States, according to a majority of security researchers and experts surveyed by Defense News in February 2025.
The Norwegian competition for long-range strike announced in November 2024 included KNDS, Rheinmetall, Hanwha and Saab/Boeing, with all bidders except the Saab/Boeing combination submitting their offer by the March 2025 deadline, the government said. Norway had also considered the U.S. HIMARS from Lockheed Martin.
KNDS was excluded from the competition in June 2025, as the Defense Materiel Agency considered the French-German company didn’t meet the requirements for delivering a full system, according to the government. The Ministry of Defence didn’t consider reopening the competition, as that would have entailed a “significant risk” of higher costs and delayed delivery, Norway said.
Hanwha’s Chunmoo was the only bid that met all the requirements in the competition, and the armed forces considered that the South Korean system could be delivered faster and more cheaply than the alternatives, the government said.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
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