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World Defense & Security News - South Korea
 
 
South Korea plans to arm its FA-50 light combat fighters with new variant of the Taurus missile
 
The South Korea's military is reviewing whether it is possible to arm its FA-50 light combat fighters with a new variant of the Taurus air-to-surface missile to enhance combat capabilities, a RoK military official said Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015.
     
South Korea plans to arm its FA 50 light combat fighters with new variant of the Taurus missile 640 002Taurus Systems' TAURUS KEPD 350 modular stand-off missile system
     
Europe-based Taurus Systems is now developing a new version of the Taurus missile, numbered 350K-2, for possible use for the Air Force and the Army, the official said.

The target specifications for the new variant under development are a range of 400 kilometers and a cruise speed of Mach 0.6~0.9, according to the official. The new missile may also be fit to equip the Republic of Korea Air Force's main fleet of F-15K's and KF-16s.

"If the FA-50s are armed with mid-range Taurus missiles, it will enhance their combat power as well as exportability," another official said.

The original version, the Taurus KEPD 350, has a range in excess of 500 km. The TAURUS KEPD 350 is a modular stand-off missile system for precision strikes against hardened and high-value point and area targets. The KEPD 350 missile is designed and developed to fly through dense air defences at a very low, terrain-hugging level and kill high-value targets. The missile contains a highly effective 480 kg dual stage warhead system MEPHISTO, which combines excellent penetration capabilities for hard and deeply buried targets (HDBT) with blast-and-fragmentation capabilities against point and area targets.

The weapon system contains the only available Programmable Intelligent Multi-Purpose Fuze (PIMPF), enabling detonation of the penetrator at a pre-selected floor inside the target structure by utilizing unique layer counting and void sensing technologies. The TAURUS KEPD 350 has a Tri-Tec navigation system that utilizes three independent sensor systems - GPS Navigation, Terrain Reference Navigation and Infrared Image Based Navigation. This is a feature which ensures highly robust navigation and exact delivery to the target even within a GPS Jammed environment.

Two batches of 20 and 40 KAI FA-50 light attack aircraft are on order to progressively replace the aging F-5Es. ROKAF pilots are also flying on 60 F-15Ks and 180 F-16C/D fighter aircraft.
     
South Korea plans to arm its FA 50 light combat fighters with new variant of the Taurus missile 640 001