OSLO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Norway has agreed to buy long-range artillery systems and rockets from South Korean defence group Hanwha Aerospace for $2 billion, it said on Thursday, as the NATO country seeks to boost its deterrence against Russia.
European nations are hiking defence spending in response to pressure from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Norway will acquire 16 launch systems and an undisclosed number of rockets for a total cost of 19 billion Norwegian crowns ($2.0 billion), the defence ministry said in a statement.
Hanwha Aerospace's Chunmoo artillery system competed for the Norwegian army contract with U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin's HIMARS.
"Hanwha will deliver launch units and training materials in 2028 and 2029, and missiles in 2030 and 2031," Norway's Defence Minister Tore Sandvik said in the statement.
Norway, which shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, says the war in Ukraine has shown that long-range artillery is essential on the modern battlefield.
The South Korean system met all requirements set by Norway for the ground-based artillery, including the ability to fire at a range of up to 500 km (310 miles), and had the quickest delivery time, officials have said.
Hanwha Aerospace last year signed an agreement with Polish defence company WB Electronics to form a joint venture producing missiles in Poland, including for the Chunmoo rocket artillery, ensuring manufacturing on European soil.
Some members of Norway's parliament had said the Nordic country should help to develop a European missile alternative, but the government dismissed this as too time-consuming and costly.
($1 = 9.5724 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Essi Lehto and Barbara Lewis)
