A Swedish Air Force JAS 39 Gripen C launched for the first time a Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile over the Vidsel Test Range.
The Swedish Air Force released a video on Aug. 21, 2026, announcing that a JAS 39 Gripen launched for the first time a Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile. The live fire activity, conducted at the Vidsel Test Range, represents a new step towards the introduction in service of the new deep-strike capability.
According to the post on X, the launch of the weapon was conducted on Aug. 21. No additional details have been released, while the video shows that the Taurus employed in the test was a live example, as denoted by the yellow stripe.
🇸🇪 TAURUS LAUNCH
Today a TAURUS KEPD 350 cruise missile was launched from a Swedish JAS 39 Gripen for the first time. The test was conducted at the Vidsel Test Range in Norrbotten.
Today TAURUS is a long-range cruise missile that introduces a new deep-strike capability.
📷 FMV pic.twitter.com/vYcL75Lu4p
— Flygvapnet (@flygvapnet) August 21, 2026
The introduction in service of the Taurus KEPD 350 with the Swedish Air Force was first planned by 2028. However, last year Maj. Gen. Jonas Wikman, the Commander of the Swedish Air Force, said in an interview to Defense News that the service, the Defense Materiel Agency (FMV) and the industry were working together to introduce the capability sooner.
“The capability itself is very important because we haven’t had any deep-strike or offensive counter-air capabilities before,” said Wikman. “We could just put all of our money on defensive abilities, but now that is a huge shift for us.”
The integration on the Gripen
Saab has described the Taurus as a weapon compatible with Gripen going back to the early 2000s. Saab was also one of the development partners in the German-Swedish weapon, the other being MBDA.
In 2002, when the German production contract was announced, Saab explicitly listed the JAS 39 Gripen among the aircraft capable of carrying the weapon. However, Sweden announced that it started the integration and procurement only in February 2025.
The work might have started few months before, in December 2024, when Saab announced a contract for the integration of new air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles. At the time, the weapons involved were not identified.
Saab previously released a photo of a Gripen flying with two Taurus weapons, although that was likely only for promotional purposes and no further tests were publicly confirmed. Mockups of Taurus were also installed on Gripens at airshow, with the first instance being FIDAE 2016 in Chile.
It is likely that not all aircraft in service will be equipped with the new weapon, as the FMV said in 2025 it would upgrade 60 Gripen C/Ds which would remain in service alongside the Gripen E/F. Jets upgraded to the MS20 Block 3 configuration are planned to be delivered from 2026, and the MS20 Block 4 will follow in 2028, according to FMV.
After the completion of the integration work on the older Gripen C, Taurus is expected to be integrated also on the new Gripen E. Saab has already mentioned that the weapon is compatible with its newest fighter jet, although tests were not yet conducted.
Taurus KEPD 350
The Taurus KEPD 350 is a long-range, air-launched stand-off cruise missile developed by Taurus Systems GmbH, a German-Swedish joint venture between MBDA Deutschland and Saab. The name Taurus is actually an acronym which stands for Target Adaptive Unitary and Dispenser Robotic Ubiquity System.
Designed to engage high-value and hardened targets at stand-off ranges, the missile has a range of more than 500 kilometers. It can fly at only 35 meters and a speed of 1,170 km/h (Mach 0.95), reducing the exposure to enemy air defenses.
The Taurus uses a combination of inertial, GPS, terrain-reference and image-reference navigation to maintain its planned flight path and accurately reach its target. The weapon is equipped with the 481 kg MEPHISTO (Multi-Effect Penetrator High-Sophisticated and Target Optimized) multi-stage warhead, specifically developed to defeat hardened and deeply buried targets.
The weapon can be programmed before launch with a detailed mission profile, allowing it to approach the target along a predefined route. Among the targets for which Taurus is intended are hardened command facilities, bunkers, airfields, bridges and other high-value infrastructure.
