BAE Systems has successfully tested a laser-guided rocket system with a Typhoon fighter jet from Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) as a potential anti-drone weapon. It follows earlier trials in the US with the F-15E Strike Eagle.
The defense firm says that it conducted tests at its development center in Lancashire, England, using a Typhoon evaluation aircraft to deliver a successful strike against a ground-based target at a military testing range.
The tech in question is the somewhat absurdly named Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), which is actually a kit that adds laser guidance to Hydra 70 2.75-inch (70 mm) unguided rockets.
It adds a mid-section between the rocket motor and its warhead that is equipped with canard fins for steering. Laser seekers mounted on the leading edge of those fins lock onto a laser-designated target when the rocket is fired.
According to some sources, the system costs less than $40,000, making it much less expensive than a typical air-to-air missile, and possibly comparable to the cost of an Iranian Shahed drone.
BAE says that the tests, backed by the RAF, will provide valuable insights into how a low-cost precision weapon could be integrated with the aircraft, particularly where affordable interception options are needed for use against uncrewed aerial systems (drones).
This also forms part of a range of capability enhancements planned for Typhoon to increase the aircraft’s potency in current and future combat air operations, the firm added. We asked the UK Ministry of Defence if it would confirm that it plans to deploy APKWS rockets to its frontline jets.
APKWS is not actually a new weapon system. It was developed well over a decade ago and reached initial operating capability in 2012.
But the rise of drones in modern warfare and the need to counter them with an affordable interception capability has seen renewed interest in it. The Pentagon reportedly ordered thousands of laser-guided rockets in a deal worth $322 million at the end of last year.
Also last year, APKWS was tested in the US with F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft, and is understood to have been used by F-16 fighters against Houthi drones attacking shipping in the Red Sea.
This isn’t the only anti-drone weapon in the UK’s arsenal. Late last year, the Royal Navy’s Wildcat helicopters were cleared to carry the Lightweight Multirole Missile or Martlet, which is also laser-guided. Some have since been deployed to the RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus to help defend it against Iranian drones.
Many Reg readers will no doubt be aware that the RAF’s Typhoon jets were named in homage to the Second World War’s Hawker Typhoon. The latter aircraft also carried rockets but for ground attack purposes, and proved highly effective against tanks during fighting after the Normandy landings. ®