The Taurus KEPD350 cruise missiles began flight testing on the Airbus Defence and Space (Eurofighter) Typhoon strike fighters yesterday (January 15, 2014). The Taurus stand-off precision missiles made by MBDA was flown on the Instrumented Production Aircraft 7 (IPA7), with Eurofighter Project Pilot Chris Worning at the controls. The activities are taking place as part of the Storm Shadow integration programme, in support of NATO air forces and foreign air forces requirements to gradually transfer stand-off strike missions from aging Tornado strike fighters to the Typhoon.
The first flight took place at Manching Military Air Systems Center in the north of Munich, where the functional ground test and taxi tests, were carried out up until yesterday. The first flight evaluated flutter tests, air data system large store interference assessment and aerodynamic data gathering. Concurrent testing of these two similar missiles optimises the Storm Shadow integration and facilitates the future airframe integration of Taurus. Taurus KEPD 350 is a German/Swedish missile that is manufactured by Taurus Systems GmbH, a partnership between MBDA Germany and Saab Dynamics.
