Norway Rejects Germany’s EuroPULS Rocket Artillery to Favour Korean and U.S. Alternatives

The Norwegian Defence Ministry has removed the German EuroPULS rocket artillery system from its Long Range Precision Firing Systems tender, leaving the rival American HIMARS and South Korea Chunmoo as the sole remaining contenders. Developed by the German firm KNDS Deutschland, the decision the system was made despite the selection of German Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks and 212CD submarines to reequip Norwegian forces. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius had previously publicly urged Norway to procure the EuroPULS for greater pan-European commonality, observing: “We see how important a modern and resilient rocket artillery cluster is.” He added that operating a common system “would be a win for both sides, for interoperability, for security of supply and for a robust European capability in a field where requirements will only increase.”

German defence products have frequently suffered from a limited ability to compete on foreign markets, even when non-NATO standard armaments such as those from China are excluded, with the defence sectors of the United States and South Korea having consistently produced more attractive alternatives. A cornerstone of German efforts to market its Leopard 2 main battle tank across Europe has been the benefits of commonality across the continent’s armoured units, although the two most capable European NATO armies Poland and Turkey both favoured the South Korean K2 with each country planning to field approximately 1000 of the vehicles. The major losses suffered by Leopard 2 tanks previously purchased by Turkey after deployment in Iraqi and Syria, and those purchased by Poland after their donation to Ukraine, are considered likely to have influenced these decisions.

Rocket artillery has played a particularly central role in the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War, with the ability of systems such as HIMARS to also be configured to launch ballistic missiles allowing them to serve in strategic roles to destroy critical infrastructure far behind enemy lines. The particular importance of these systems may be a factor in Norway’s unwillingness to compromise performance for interoperability benefits. Both the HIMARS and the Chunmoo system have been procured in significant numbers by Poland, with a $6 billion framework agreement for the acquisition of 288 Chunmoo launchers signed in 2022, which can integrate both 239mm rockets and 600mm ballistic missiles. For other clients 131mm, 230mm and 400mm rounds are available. For the Norwegian Army, the Chunmoo system has the clear advantages of a much shorter order queue, allowing deliveries to begin significantly more quickly, while HIMARS has the benefit of being much more intensively tested under combat conditions in the Ukrainain theatre.