Voltzz

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These are the variants of Taurus that i am aware of:
  • Taurus KEPD 350: Standard version in service with Germany Spain and South Korea
  • Taurus KEPD 150/Taurus L: A lighter variant of the in-service kinetic penetrator Taurus intended for Sweden to arm the Gripen.
  • Taurus KEPD 150 SLM: Ship launched variant intended for the K130 corvette but later canceled
  • Taurus M: Multiple Warheads (including SMArt sensor-fused sub-munition)
  • Taurus MP: Modular Payload
  • Taurus HPM: High Power Microwave warhead
  • Taurus CL: Ground launched variant offered to South Korea
  • Taurus T: Variant dropped from a transport aircraft (A400M)
Textron powerpoint on the Taurus family
 

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The Container Launched version is interesting. They went for minimum change, so the booster is literally carrying the missile from a strongback with standard lug attachments. Hard to imagine that the bending loads on the structure connecting the rocket (tucked in behind the missile) to the strongback wouldn't be a problem.
 
The Container Launched version is interesting. They went for minimum change, so the booster is literally carrying the missile from a strongback with standard lug attachments. Hard to imagine that the bending loads on the structure connecting the rocket (tucked in behind the missile) to the strongback wouldn't be a problem.

First thing I thought as well. Never seen that configuration before. Given the detail in the proposals they must have done some engineering homework on it but it looks very iffy....its a 1.5 tonne munition that needs accelerating to at least 400 knots and at least 1,500ft for the turbojet to wind up....all from a standing start....there are going to be some hefty forces exerted on the attachment points that the missile was not designed for.

The final image and cross section of the truck launcher on Voltzz post 3 appear to show a more conventional booster attachment though...(labelled TaurusCLcontainer.jpg and TaurusCLdesign.jpg respectively). Maybe they had a rethink?
 
The final image and cross section of the truck launcher on Voltzz post 3 appear to show a more conventional booster attachment though...(labelled TaurusCLcontainer.jpg and TaurusCLdesign.jpg respectively). Maybe they had a rethink?
I dont have the original source of TaurusCLcontainer.jpg, it might be misidentified and could actually be a Taurus KEPD SLM. Both TaurusCLdesign and TaurusCLmodel show the missile as it was offered to South Korea, while the weird booster seems to only exist in earlier marketing material meant to show how versatile the Taurus family is.
 
MBB/DASA dispenser family:
MW3 already looks very similar to Taurus
SWAARM used SADARM submunitions and was offered by Hunting engineering in the program that chose Brimstone
 

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MBB/DASA dispenser family:
MW3 already looks very similar to Taurus
SWAARM used SADARM submunitions and was offered by Hunting engineering in the program that chose Brimstone
I could have a complete wrong memory here, but my recollection from way back was that Taurus was indeed a growth of the MW3 dispenser. Once they powered the dispenser, then swapped to a warhead that wasn’t going to be ruled out by new anti land mine treaties bingo-bango you had Taurus. That’s how I remember it developing but I’m happy to be told I’m imagining it.
 
I could have a complete wrong memory here, but my recollection from way back was that Taurus was indeed a growth of the MW3 dispenser. Once they powered the dispenser, then swapped to a warhead that wasn’t going to be ruled out by new anti land mine treaties bingo-bango you had Taurus. That’s how I remember it developing but I’m happy to be told I’m imagining it.

Yes, I remember the same ....
 
MBB/DASA dispenser family:
MW3 already looks very similar to Taurus
SWAARM used SADARM submunitions and was offered by Hunting engineering in the program that chose Brimstone
This video on the DASA/Bofors DWS-39/24 has some frames in the end showing future development of the dispenser family:
Advanced SWAARM
DWS 24 powered
TADS Area Weapon
KEPD Point Weapon
 

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TADS Area Weapon
more info on TADS from MILTECH 93/8
Entering the
Air-to-Surface Field

The Swedish Ar Force has been one of the very first services to recognise the importance of stand-of dispensers. Based on a development contract signed In 1986 between the FMV and MBB (now DASA), the JAS. 39 will be the worlds first fighter aircraft to be equipped with such a stand-off gliding dispenser. The system, designated DWS39/24, is intended to engage area soft targets with conventional sub-munitions; the production contact, signed in Apr 1992, largely involves Bofors and FFV Aerotech.
While the performance of the DWS39/24 are regarded as adequate for the time being, it as obvious that much promising new ground lies ahead as regards both stand-off range and the use of "intelligent" ammunition for engaging hard targets. Based on these considerations Bofors and DASA have recently signed an agreement to jointly demonstrate the maturity of the key components for a new-generation dispenser missile, powered by a turbojet engine and loaded with anti-tank sub-munitions. In practical terms, the agreement implies DASA's dispenser technology being combined with an adapted version of the Bofors BONUS artillery "intelligent" sub-munition in a dispenser named TADS (Target Adaptive Dispenser System). This proposal has already attracted considerable interest by the Swedish Air Force, and on May 25 FMV and DASA Signed an agreement covering the first phase of the technology demonstrator programme with an option for follow-on phase to be performed jointly by Bofors and DASA on a 50/50 basis.
Bofors believes that in order to have high chances for survival and mission success, a dispenser such as TADS must perform the
target approach/submuniton ejection sequence while flying as low as possible. These considerations led to an innovatve ejection system, the submunitions being ejected upward; this places them in a postion which ensures that they will descend exactly over the area where the dispenser’s forward/downward-looking seeker has detected a target or cluster of targets. The number of submunitons to be ejected is automatically established according to the number of targets identifies in the area; moreover, by banking the dispenser during ejection the submunitions can be placed wih high accuracy even on the sides of the disspenser’s fight path, for instance along a winding road.
Bofors Missiles stresses that due to both the relatively high degree of “inteligence” embeded in the dispenser itself and the unique characteristics of the BONUS submunition, TADS will be a much more advanced and capable system than other currently proposed or conceivable designs for dispensers scattering sensor-fuzed anti-tank sub-munitions.
The TADS missile is conceived as a modular system, whereby the front (guidance) and aft (propulsion) sections could be joined to a center section accommodating any of very many possile payload/fuel combinations. Preliminary studies are being carried out on a number of different solutions, including, for instance, the highly innovative hard point target KEPD (Kinetic Energy Penetrator Destructor) variant.
 

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Im allways astonished at how this brick can fly, is so light for its size and how it can go over 500km. And a new proposed wing angle (probaly also new wing) with JP-10 would already go to 715km. Probaly more of it can already exceed 500km without JP-10 or the new wing (angle and or design).
 
I dont have the original source of TaurusCLcontainer.jpg, it might be misidentified and could actually be a Taurus KEPD SLM. Both TaurusCLdesign and TaurusCLmodel show the missile as it was offered to South Korea, while the weird booster seems to only exist in earlier marketing material meant to show how versatile the Taurus family is.
Can confirm that it was misidentified. I found a DASA ad that labels the same image as Taurus KEPD 150 SLM. I will re-upload and relabel the drawing to correct the mistake.
 

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It's in German, translated English title is

"Central mission planning for the modular standoff weapon TAURUS KEPD 350"

Tried using Google Translate to translate the document, but the PDF is scanned in as graphics, so probably need to OCR the text before going through Google Translate to work ....
 
Im allways astonished at how this brick can fly, is so light for its size and how it can go over 500km. And a new proposed wing angle (probaly also new wing) with JP-10 would already go to 715km. Probaly more of it can already exceed 500km without JP-10 or the new wing (angle and or design).
DWS39 is not Taurus. Both are based on the same technology but are different missiles. The Swedish DWS29 can not fly 500 Km like Taurus.
 
 

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