South Korean air force to integrate Taurus KEPD 350K missiles

[Zarvan]

The South Korean air force plans to arm its F-15K Slam Eagle fighters with Taurus KEPD 350K missiles by the end of the year. This image shows an artist's rendering of the launch of a KEPD 350 from a Boeing F-15SE. Source: Boeing
The Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) plans to arm its F-15K Slam Eagle fighters with 'jamming proof' air-to-surface guided missiles in a bid to bolster its strike capabilities amid growing threats from North Korea, Yonhap news agency quoted military officials as saying on 9 August.

Dozens of Taurus KEPD 350K air-launched stand-off cruise missiles will be brought in from Germany by the end of this year as the US government recently approved the export of critical military GPS receivers that can be attached to the aircraft, the media outlet reported. The receivers are vital in this context because they are not affected by North Korean GPS jamming, the report added.

"If armed with the Taurus missile, the [aircraft] can hit North Korea's capital city of Pyongyang while flying over Daejeon, 164 km south of Seoul," the military officials were quoted as saying.

They also said the F-15Ks could fire off a Taurus over the East Sea (also called Sea of Japan) and hit the missile launching facility in Hwadae, in the northern part of North Korea.

"Taurus missiles combined with GPS receivers and the flight termination system will be deployed in two to three months with the [RoKAF]," an official from the Defense Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) told Yonhap.

"If the Taurus missiles, with a range of over 500 km, are added to the [RoKAF's] inventory, South Korea will be the first operator of fighter jets equipped with the advanced system in Asia," the official added.

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