Estonia has signed a €46 million contract to buy South Korean artillery that would boost the country’s defence capacity.
Estonia will buy K9 Thunder howitzers, the first of the twelve will arrive in the country in 2020.
“The procurement of the self-propelled artillery will bring Estonia’s defence capacity to a new level and be one of the most considerable steps of building up armoured manoeuvring capacity,” Rauno Sirk, the director of the Estonian military procurement agency, said in a statement.
Estonia started to choose the best artillery system for its conditions in 2016. During the process, different experts evaluated different weapons systems and as the result of the analysis, the K9 Thunder proved to be the most modern and with the best battle capability, the military procurement agency added.
The K9 Thunder is a self-propelled 155 mm howitzer developed by Samsung Techwin for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. They’re also used in Finland, Norway, Poland, Turkey and India.
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Cover: K-9 Thunder self-propelled artillery of the Republic of Korea’s armed forces (Wikimedia Commons).
