04 April 2023

Saudi military unveils Chun-Moo MRLs

by Jeremy Binnie

Saudi Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwaili (centre) inspects a Chun-Moo multiple rocket launcher during a visit to Jizan and Najran. (Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

South Korean-made Chun-Moo multiple rocket launchers (MRLs) were seen for the first time in Saudi service on 31 March, when Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwaili visited military units deployed to defend the kingdom's border with Yemen.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the visit included stops in the Jizan and Najran sectors and released a video clip of Lt Gen Fayyad being shown at least two Chun-Moo MRLs and an ammunition resupply vehicle.

During the visit, Lt Gen Fayyad met personnel from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels. The UAE was earlier the only known export customer for the Chun-Moos, but the MRLs clearly had Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) markings. The two MRLs were numbered 878 and 885, indicating the RSLF has acquired several more.

The Chun-Moo is a multicalibre MRL on a wheeled vehicle with an armoured cab. Using an integrated gantry system, it can be rapidly loaded with two pods, each of which can contain 20 K33 130 mm unguided rockets with a range of 36 km, six KM26A2 230 mm rockets, or six 239 mm missiles with a range of 80 km. No pods were seen in the Saudi video.

Hanwha Defense now offers 400 mm (two in each pod) and 600 mm (one in each pod) missiles, with ranges of 200 and 290 km, respectively, although it is unclear if these have entered production.

South Korean-made Chun-Moo multiple rocket launchers (MRLs) were seen for the first time in Saudi se...

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