As with Britan's much delayed decision to purchase Storm Shadow the German Government have had similar problems selecting their own conventionally armed stand-off missile. The initial decision was to purchase the French Apache system primarily for area denial missions. However with the end of the Cold War the need changed to one of point attack, particularly against hardened targets. Unfortunately on-going discussions between France and Germany failed when the French Defence Ministry scaled back its own purchase of Apache (and delayed decisions on a point attack variant) resulting in an overall cost increase for Germany. This led to Germany withdrawing from its agreements with France over the development and procurement of Apache.

EADS/Bofors TAURUS © EADS

Fortunately DASA and Sweden's Bofors had a non-powered glide dispenser under development, the DWS-24 (also known as DWS-39). Working from this basis the two companies proposed turbo-jet powered systems with the option of either a unitary or tandem warhead (rather than the dispensor system), designated FM3 and D7. In 1998 the German Ministry of Defence announced funding for the development of a powered system to be designated KEPD-350 along with the production of 28 prototypes. It was also proposed as a solution to Britain's CASOM requirement where it took the name TAURUS (Target Adaptive Unitary and dispensor Robotic Ubiquity System). Although the system was not selected by Britain's MoD the TAURUS name has persisted with a joint DASA-Bofors company being set up under this banner.

The KEPD-350 comprises of essentially four sections; an imaging infra-red seeker, electronics package, warhead system and fuel tanks and a turbo-fan propulsion unit. The entire structure is designed to be highly stealthy which combined with its low cruise altitude will make it a difficult target to locate and intecept. The IIR sensor is primarily used during the terminal phase for target aquisition. For mid-course guidance three separate navigation systems are utilised by TAURUS; GPS (Global Positioning System), INS (Inertial Navigation System) and Terrain Navigation (TERNAV). In addition the IIR seeker can be utilised in a waypoint recognition role to further confirm its position. Behind the electronics and seeker in the mid position sits the warhead, either a unitary or tandem device. A new tandem warhead, named MEPHISTO has been developed by TDW for use in TAURUS. This has similarities to the BROACH system developed by BAE Systems Royal Ordnance. It comprises a precursor charge followed by the main explosive warhead. An intelligent progammable fuze system termed PIMPF calculates the opimum time for detonation of the tandem charges maximising their destructive ability. This section also contains the weapons main fuel tanks and newly developed fuel supply system. Behind these sits the P8300 turbo-fan engine which powers the craft in excess of M0.8 at low altitude with a maximum range in excess of 400km (214nm).

Thanks to work already completed on DWS-24 development of TAURUS proceeded very quickly. In 1996 sucessfull captive flight tests of the system took place aboard the target platform, a Luftwaffe Tornado. On October 4th 1999 the first free flight took place at Bofors Swedish test range at Visdel. A second flight occured on September 30th 2000. Both flights confirmed the ability of TAURUS to navigate its way to the target area over hilly terrain. Separate tests of the MEPHISTO warhead have also been carried out including one against a triple thick hardened concrete structure. Further free flight trials of TAURUS are expected this year (2001) to verify target aquisition and destruction capabilities before it is made available to the Luftwaffe in 2002.

Aside from the Luftwaffe order there also exists the potential for a number of foreign sales. At present these include Italy and Australia who have both been observing the project.

* : Note that all ranges quoted are based on mean figures from various data sources. Actual achievable range will depend on a great number of factors and may be no where near those quoted.