The TAURUS KEPD 350, an advanced, modular stand-off missile system for precision strikes against bunkers and other hardened, deeply buried targets, as well as high-value point and area targets such as large radar stations, is being showcased at FIDAE 2016 on the GRIPEN static display.
The TAURUS KEPD 350 is a product of TAURUS Systems, a joint venture between MBDA Deutschland and Saab Dynamics, for the development, production and global marketing of the TAURUS stand-off missile family for long-range precision strikes.
According to news reports, deliveries of the TAURUS KEPD 350K air-launched stand-off cruise missile for integration on Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-15K aircraft will begin this year. Official statements from the Republic of Korea (RoK) in April 2013 indicated the missile had been selected.
The missile for the ROKOF is identical to that currently in service with Spain's EF-18 (F/A-18) HORNET and Germany's TORNADO IDS aircraft, except that it is equipped with a new Rockwell Collins GPS receiver.
Able to strike at targets at ranges beyond 500km, the turbofan-powered TAURUS KEPD 350E is designed to penetrate air defences by using a very low-level terrain-following flight profile. Navigation is executed by means of a ‘tri-tech’ system that combines an inertial navigation system with an image base, terrain-reference and GPS. Another key discriminator for KEPD 350E is the lethal package. This combines a 480kg Mephisto penetrator warhead with a programmable void-counting fuze.
