The latest edition of the K9 User Club is currently taking place in Estonia, bringing together representatives of the armed forces of countries operating the K9 self-propelled howitzer. This year’s meeting is hosted by the Estonian Defence Forces and attended by more than 200 participants from over a dozen countries. Hanwha Aerospace, as the manufacturer of the system, is supporting the event. The conference and accompanying workshops are being held from 2 to 4 September 2026.
The K9 User Club provides a platform for the direct exchange of knowledge and experience related to the operation, training, maintenance and logistics of K9 systems. The format allows users to compare solutions applied by different armed forces, strengthen interoperability and identify opportunities to further improve operational effectiveness.
This year’s meeting follows the 4th K9 User Club, which was held in Poland in April 2025. More than 150 military and industry representatives from nine countries gathered in Krakow. The program also included visits to Huta Stalowa Wola and the 18th Artillery Brigade, where participants were able to observe K9 systems operating in field conditions.
Growing K9 User Community
Successive editions of the K9 User Club continue to attract increasing participation as the number of countries operating the K9 family grows in Europe and around the world. The system is now one of the most widely used modern 155 mm artillery solutions, and in Europe it is operated or planned for introduction by, among others, Poland, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Romania and Spain.
The growing number of users of the same system family creates an increasingly broad base of shared operational, training and logistics experience. For Hanwha Aerospace, feedback provided directly by users is also an important source of knowledge supporting the further development of the system and its lifecycle support.
Poland holds a particularly important position within this community as the largest K9 operator in NATO.
Chunmoo Featured at the User Club for the First Time
A new element of this year’s edition is the first-ever K9 User Club session dedicated to the K239 Chunmoo Multiple Launch Rocket System.
The expansion of the program reflects growing interest in the system and the increasing number of its users. Poland is a particularly significant example, as it is developing the largest Chunmoo program outside the Republic of Korea. The Polish variant of the system, known as HOMAR-K, has been integrated with the Polish Jelcz chassis and a domestic fire-control system, while the contracts signed to date cover almost 300 launcher modules for the Polish Armed Forces.
At the same time, the HOMAR-K program is entering a further stage of industrial cooperation. Under the third executive contract, CGR-080 239 mm precision-guided rockets will be produced in Poland at a facility managed by Hanwha WB Advanced System, a joint venture between Hanwha Aerospace and WB Electronics. This will establish and further develop new strategic capabilities in Poland related to the production of precision-guided rocket ammunition.
Estonia, the host of this year’s User Club, is also developing capabilities based on Chunmoo. After ordering six launchers in 2025, the Estonian Defence Forces decided in May 2026 to acquire additional systems, becoming the second European country to introduce the solution.
The inclusion of Chunmoo in the User Club program reflects the natural expansion of cooperation among users — from sharing experience in tube artillery to also covering long-range rocket artillery.
This year’s K9 User Club will continue until 4 September 2026. The program includes national presentations, expert sessions, discussions on the operation and further development of artillery systems, and a demonstration of K9 systems operated by Estonia.
