Good hit! That is how one South Korean pilot characterized – on line – the first TAURUS free flight in South Korea. On 12 September, the Republic of Korea Air Force test-fired a TAURUS KEPD 350K missile from a F-15K combat aircraft.
After its release, the guided missile flew a distance of approximately 400 km before precisely impacting its target on an island off the west coast of Korea, on the Yellow Sea. With this flight, the Republic of Korea Air Force was seeking to test the integration of the missile onto the F-15K as well as its performance capability.
The free flight campaign was supported by TSG. On behalf of TSG, MBDA in Germany integrates the missiles at its Schrobenhausen site before shipping to the ROKAF.
TAURUS KEPD 350K is a modular stand-off missile system for precision strikes. The 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, which combines excellent penetration capabilities for hard and deeply buried targets with blast-and-fragmentation capabilities against point and area targets.
TSG is the contractor of the South Korean customer’s procurement agency DAPA for TAURUS 350K missiles. The contract has been concluded in November 2013. Missiles has been delivered since 2016 and the weapon system has been declared “operational” by Korean Air Force.