Taurus Completes Operational Evaluation

Released on Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Operational testing of the Taurus KEPD 350 standoff guided missile system destined for the German Air Force has been successfully completed at Overberg / South Africa. The trials confirmed that Taurus KEPD 350 completely meets the system performance specifications for deployment in the mission environment. Following the successfully completed verifications, the Taurus weapon system will now be declared ready for deployment on the Tornado IDS combat aircraft.

The first missiles will be delivered to the German Air Force before the end of November 2005 under the contract concluded with TAURUS Systems GmbH (TSG) in the year 2002. This provides for the delivery of 600 missiles in all. The operational testing was carried out under the responsibility of the Federal Office of Military Technology and Procurement (BWB). TSG, a subsidiary of EADS/LFK-Lenkflugk�rpersysteme GmbH and the Swedish Saab Bofors Dynamics, provided support for the campaign conducted at the Overberg test range, which covers 43,000 hectares and has a 70-kilometre long coastline, thus offering ideal conditions for extensive trials.

The Taurus KEPD 350 guided missile system is planned as armament for the German Tornados and later Eurofighter in its air-to-ground role. In the wake of the successful field tests, the industry is expecting the order for integration on Eurofighter in the near future.

The system enables the precise engagement of high-value, stationary military point targets, thus enabling the Air Force to combat heavily defended targets without exposing their aircraft and crews to enemy air defenses. Taurus KEPD 350 is equipped with a "Tri-Tec" navigation system. Its outstanding navigation capabilities are attained by the linking of sensor data from the IBN (Image Based Navigation), TRN (Terrain Reference Navigation) and MIL-GPS (Global Positioning System) subsystems.

Taurus KEPD 350 is the world's only standoff guided missile system that does not rely on GPS navigation support while in flight. The all-weather missile can be deployed in a wide spectrum of mission profiles over ranges of more than 350 kilometers, flying at up to high subsonic speeds. Insofar as needed in order to penetrate enemy air defenses, terrain-hugging flight paths can also be selected. This cruise missile weighs roughly 1,400 kilograms and is five meters long. A Tornado or Eurofighter aircraft can deploy up to two of these missiles simultaneously.

TAURUS Systems GmbH had already been able to log a first important export success prior to the operational testing in South Africa. Spain has also decided to procure Taurus KEPD 350. The Spanish Air Force is to receive 43 operational missiles for the armament of its F-18 and Eurofighter combat aircraft.

TAURUS Systems GmbH, with registered offices in Schrobenhausen, is a joint venture between EADS/LFK-Lenkflugk�rpersysteme (two thirds) and SAAB Bofors Dynamics (one third) set up for the development, production and global marketing of Taurus precision standoff guided missile systems.