Estonia Looking Beyond Korean K9 ‘Thunder’ for its Next Howitzer Purchase

The Estonian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is surveying the market for the potential acquisition of a truck-mounted artillery guns, to complement the South Korean tracked K9 "Thunder" it already possesses.

The planned new self-propelled artillery would form the core of a third Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) artillery battery and will likely to involve a truck-mounted system.

Ministry of Defense undersecretary for defense planning, Tiina Uudeberg said: "They are included in our 10-year development plan, but we are likely waiting until 2028; perhaps a little longer."

"We updated the military defense part of our 10-year development plan only in the spring, partly due to the events in Ukraine. And the third artillery battalion was one of the clear wishes of the head of the defense forces," Uudeberg was quoted saying by ERR.

The Center for Defense Investments (RKIK) is evaluating various producers' weapons systems in its pre-purchase research with a price range from €4 million to €10 million per unit.

It further quoted Ramil Lipp, armaments category manager at the RKIK, that: "We have made contact with some manufacturers and have seen some examples at trade fairs. This includes European manufacturers – French, Swedish, Czech and Slovak, and Turkey; further afield, India also produces a similar product."

As of February this year, 18 K9 Thunders were reported to be with the Estonian Army, with six more still to arrive.