Laser-guided rockets can be used to engage one-way attack drones.
Eurofighter Typhoons performing defensive operations in the Middle East with the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) have been equipped with a low-cost counter-drone capability following the completion of a rapid integration and testing campaign.
Now being carried by Typhoons flown by pilots from the RAF’s 9 Sqn from its Akrotiri base in Cyprus, the pod-housed BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APWKS) laser-guided rocket is capable of engaging one-way attack drones.
“The system has now been deployed on operations in the Middle East… as part of missions to defend British people, interests and partners from threats,” the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 17 May.
BAE in early April announced that an initial air-to-surface test firing had been conducted from a Typhoon, with that event now confirmed as having taken place in March against a “ground-based target”.
That success was followed in April by a series of air-to-air shots conducted against Qinetiq-operated Banshee target drones over the Aberporth test area off the West Wales coast. That activity was conducted by pilots from the RAF’s 41 Test and Evaluation Squadron.
“Rapid procurement and testing work… has enabled the [APKWS] system to move from testing to deployment on operations in less than two months,” the MoD notes.
The Typhoon carries two seven-round launchers for APKWS rockets beneath its wing.
Produced in the US by BAE Systems Inc, the laser guidance kit modifies unguided 70mm rockets for precision strike duties. The company – which early this year delivered its 100,000th unit – cites an effective engagement range of 1-7.5nm (2-14km) when launched from a fast jet platform.
Noting that the short-range weapon can “destroy targets precisely and at a fraction of the price of missiles currently used”, the MoD describes the addition as “a more effective and sustainable means of countering the increasing threat of drones to UK forces and partners”.
Defensive engagements made against one-way attack drones by RAF Typhoons and Lockheed Martin F-35Bs during the opening phase of the US/Israeli air campaign against Iran relied on the use of MBDA ASRAAM short-range air-to-air missiles.
Simon Barnes, group managing director of BAE’s Air sector business, says the addition of the laser-guided rocket “demonstrates Typhoon’s exceptional versatility and underlines its continued role as the backbone of combat air across Europe and the Middle East”.
Qinetiq notes that its involvement in the APKWS integration and testing activity was enabled via its “long-term Engineering Delivery Partnership contract” with the MoD.
Meanwhile, the MoD says its deployed assets have accumulated more than a combined 2,500 flying hours since Washington launched its Operation Epic Fury campaign against Tehran on 28 February.
On 12 May, the MoD announced that it would commit Typhoons to a future international activity to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, describing its fighters as “ready to conduct air patrols”. The type’s effectiveness in meeting such a commitment will be boosted by the addition of the new counter-drone capability.
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