Sweden has announced that it has fired a Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile for the first time from a Saab JAS 39C Gripen fighter aircraft…
The test firing provides the Swedish Air Force with a precision-strike capability at ranges exceeding 500 kilometers.
The Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile is planned to achieve operational capability by the end of 2028.
The Taurus will expand the Gripen fighter’s existing air-to-ground weapons capabilities, which include the AGM-65 Maverick, RBS-15 anti-ship missile, and various types of bombs.
The Taurus KEPD 350 is a long-range, air-launched stand-off cruise missile developed by Germany’s TAURUS Systems GmbH, a joint venture between Saab and MBDA.
The missile weighs approximately 1,400 kg, measures around 5 meters in length, and carries a 481 kg warhead.
The Taurus missile’s guidance system is based on a multi-mode navigation architecture combining INS (Inertial Navigation System), GPS, terrain-referenced navigation (TRN), and image-based navigation.
Equipped with an IIR seeker for the terminal phase, the missile is designed to fly at very low altitudes and conduct precision strikes in heavily defended airspace…