Sweden hastens Gripen deep-strike punch with Taurus missiles

MONTREAL — Sweden will soon have the capability to conduct deep strikes far behind enemy lines, as the Gripen will be integrated with the German-made Taurus cruise missile earlier than planned, the Swedish air chief said.

“We have reprioritized and done work to ensure that our industry, FMV, and the Air Force’s work on this overlaps as much as possible, resulting in the original timeline shifting left as I am expecting us to be operational at a date considerably earlier than previously planned,” Maj. Gen. Jonas Wikman, the commander of the Swedish Air Force, told Defense News in an interview.

FMV is the acronym for Sweden’s defense materiel agency.

A document published in February by agency officials noted that the planned initial operational capability of the Taurus KEPD-350 air-launched cruise missile on the JAS39 Gripen C/D was first expected by 2028.

Given the sensitivity of the project, the official did not disclose the precise date of integration. The missile was developed by Taurus Systems GmbH, a German-Swedish joint venture between MBDA Deutschland and Saab.

The weapon can carry a 481-kilogram warhead and is designed to destroy hardened and deeply-buried targets of all sizes at ranges above 500 kilometers, per the company’s website.

Wikman referred to the future introduction of the weapon as “a huge step,” that will also influence the air force’s doctrine and operational concepts.

A South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jet releases a Taurus missile during a drill off the country's western coast on Sept. 13, 2017. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

“The capability itself is very important because we haven’t had any deep-strike or offensive counter-air capabilities before. We could just put all of our money on defensive abilities, but now that is a huge shift for us,” he said.

He added that the Scandinavian country has received great support from Germany on all aspects of long-range offensive fires.

Saab previously released an image showing the Gripen flying with the Taurus missile, and a static display of the fighter in this configuration was displayed all the way back in 2016 at the FIDAE defense fair in Chile.

However, officials never went so far as to conduct live-fire tests with the weapon aboard the warplane.

Sweden follows a unique approach by foregoing a traditional mid-life update to the Gripen, opting instead to inject new capabilities into the jet on a rolling basis, with larger upgrades slotted roughly every three years.

According to Wikman, this is possible for two main reasons: For one, Saab, as a national manufacturer, has the authority to orchestrate a tight industry ecosystem that allows for rapid technology adaption when operational requirements change.

In addition, Saab recently implemented a major avionics architecture change in the Gripen E fighter that isolates the flight-safety critical software from the one that runs combat missions. The separation makes it easier to install quick upgrades in combat effectiveness, according to company engineers.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

蒙特利尔——瑞典空军司令表示，瑞典很快将具备对敌后进行纵深打击的能力，因为“鹰狮”战斗机将比原计划更早地与德国制造的“金牛座”巡航导弹整合。

瑞典空军司令乔纳斯·维克曼少将在接受《防务新闻》采访时表示：“我们重新调整了工作重点，并努力确保我们的工业界、FMV公司和空军在这方面的工作尽可能地重叠，因此原定的时间表提前了，我预计我们将比之前计划的日期提前很多投入使用。”

FMV是瑞典国防物资局的缩写。

该机构官员在 2 月份发布的一份文件指出，JAS39“鹰狮”C/D 战斗机上“金牛座”KEPD-350 空射巡航导弹的计划初始作战能力最初预计在 2028 年实现。

鉴于该项目的敏感性，这位官员没有透露具体的集成日期。该导弹由金牛座系统有限公司（Taurus Systems GmbH）研发，该公司是MBDA德国公司和萨博公司（Saab）的德瑞合资企业。

据该公司网站介绍，该武器可携带 481 公斤重的弹头，设计用于摧毁 500 公里以上射程内各种尺寸的加固和深埋目标。

维克曼称该武器的未来引入是“一大步”，也将影响空军的理论和作战理念。

2017年9月13日，韩国空军一架F-15K战斗机在韩国西部沿海进行演习时发射了一枚金牛座导弹。（韩国国防部供图，美联社发布）

他说：“这项能力本身非常重要，因为我们以前没有任何纵深打击或进攻性反空能力。我们以前可以把所有资金都投入到防御能力上，但现在这对我们来说是一个巨大的转变。”

他还补充说，德国在远程进攻火力各个方面都给予了这个北欧国家很大的支持。

萨博此前曾发布过一张鹰狮战斗机携带金牛座导弹飞行的照片，而这种配置的战斗机早在 2016 年就在智利举行的 FIDAE 防务展上进行了静态展示。

然而，官方从未进行过在战机上使用该武器进行实弹射击测试。

瑞典采取了一种独特的做法，放弃了对鹰狮战斗机进行传统的中期升级，而是选择以滚动的方式为该战机注入新的功能，大约每三年进行一次较大的升级。

维克曼认为，这主要有两个原因：首先，萨博作为一家国家制造商，有权协调一个紧密的行业生态系统，从而在运营需求发生变化时能够快速进行技术调整。

此外，萨博公司近期对“鹰狮”E战斗机的航电架构进行了重大改进，将飞行安全关键软件与执行作战任务的软件隔离开来。据公司工程师称，这种分离设计便于快速升级以提升作战效能。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。