Amid rising tensions with North Korea, South Korea conducted precision strike trials of its Tauras KPED 350K standoff cruise missiles ...
Amid rising tensions with North Korea, South Korea conducted precision strike trials of its Tauras KPED 350K standoff cruise missiles on 12 Sept.
The Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) Boeing F-15K fighter launched the missile against a static target over the western coast of the country.
The high subsonic speed Tauras missile with a maximum range of 500 km self navigated around 400 km to strike the target.
The trials marks the integration of the missile onto the South Korean F-15K fighters after delivering the first batch of 40 missiles in October 2016.
The Tauras KEPD 350K is an enhanced and upgraded version of the TAURUS KEPD 350 missile, which has been in service with the German Air Force since 2005 and with the Spanish Air Force since 2009.
The 5 m long, 1400 kg KEPD 350K missile has been designed and developed to fly through dense air defenses at a very low terrain-following level and for the engagement of high-value targets.
The missile contains a highly effective dual stage warhead system weighting 480 kg, which combines excellent penetration capabilities for hard and deeply buried targets with blast-and-fragmentation capabilities against point and area targets.
The dual stage warhead called Mephisto has an initial penetrating charge to clear light surfaces like soil and penetrate the bunker and then a variable delay fuze trigger the main warhead to destroy hardened objects.
It is powered by a Williams P8300-15 turbofan engine and navigation system include inertial navigation, GPS, Terrain reference navigation and Image Based Navigation.
South Korea has ordered a total of 260 Tauras missiles to arm its F-15K fighters and is expected to order more following the tensions.
The TAURUS KEPD 350E is a product of TAURUS Systems GmbH, a joint venture between MBDA Deutschland GmbH and Saab Dynamics AB.
