On 31 March 2026 Warsight reported the first test firing of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guided rockets from a Typhoon fighter as a low-cost solution to countering bomb-laden unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) threats. This firing had been undertaken on 4 March 2026 against a raft-mounted target on the QinetiQ Aberporth range in Cardigan Bay off the Welsh coast, following a flight with empty pods the previous day. The sorties were flown by Typhoon operational requirements manager and BAE Systems evaluator pilot Andrew Mallery Blythe (‘Blighty’, callsign ‘Tarnish 15’).

The aircraft used was a Warton-based Typhoon FGR Mk4, ZE356, previously used for test firings of the Spear missile, but wearing the markings of No 41 Squadron: the Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron. BAE Systems described APKWS as a “game-changing low-cost precision weapon”.

Warsight followed up on 16 April, giving further details of the trials.

Until now, the MBDA Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) has been the ‘go to’ weapon of choice against UAV targets. However, although highly effective, it costs around GBP200,000 (EUR 230,043) per shot, which is about 10 times more than today’s typical one-way attack UAVs, and there is clearly a need for a cheaper effector – and one that can be carried in higher numbers. Using an ASRAAM against a cheap drone can, of course, be justified when a high-value target is saved, but it is obviously better to use a cheaper solution where possible.

The AGR-20F APKWS, or FALCO (Fixed Wing, Air Launched, Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Ordnance), consists of a standard unguided Hydra 70 Mk 66 70 mm rocket projectile with the same rocket motor, and warhead, but with a new WGU-59/B mid-body guidance unit developed by BAE Systems, along with air-to-air-optimised guidance and sensing algorithms and a proximity fuze. This is fitted between the Mk 66 Mod 4 rocket motor and the warhead and fuze, increasing the Hydra 70’s length by 18.5 in (47 cm) and weight by 9 lb (4.1 kg).

The WGU-59/B uses distributed aperture semi-active laser seeker (DASALS) guidance, with a laser seeker in the leading edge of each of the ‘flip-out’ forward control canards, which deploy after the rocket is launched. This allows standard Hydra 70 warheads to be used without any need for a laser seeker in the nose of the rocket.

The basic Hydra 70 rocket has a range of 1,100 to 5,000 m, but a more powerful rocket motor could extend that range, exploiting the 14 km range of the DASALS seeker. Norwegian-Finnish aerospace group Nammo is understood to be working on just such a modified rocket motor that will extend the range to 12-15 km.

A new dual-mode APKWS II variant was unveiled in full-scale mock-up form in April 2025 that adds a new passive infrared sensor for terminal guidance, removing the need for the target to be ‘lased’ all the way to impact. This would allow more rapid targeting of multiple targets. The new seeker is nose mounted, however, requiring the warhead to be moved to the mid-body of the rocket and thus increasing cost and complexity.

Mallery Blythe told Warsight, “At the moment our customer’s got a particular need to engage a lot of low-cost targets, such as one-way attack drones, and for that task a simple low-cost weapon is far more appropriate.”

At the DSEI exhibition in September 2025 BAE Systems had announced that it was assessing the APKWS guided rocket as one of a range of potential counter-drone weapons for the Typhoon, although it was reported that the RAF had said it had no requirement to integrate the weapon on the aircraft. There was speculation that integration of the weapon was prioritised to meet Saudi and Qatari requirements, or to meet an RAF Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR), but neither story has been confirmed. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have both been cleared to buy APKWS, but there has been no confirmation that either buy is for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

BAE Systems described its recent trials activity as being “part of a range of capability enhancements planned for Typhoon to increase the aircraft’s potency in current and future combat air operations”, intended to provide experience of integrating a low-cost precision weapon on the aircraft.

After the initial air-to-surface firing, No 41 Squadron conducted the next stage of the trial, undertaking an air-to-air test firing at Aberporth on 22 April 2026, flying from RAF Coningsby. The launch aircraft (ZK339) was accompanied by another single-seat No 41 Squadron Typhoon and a two-seater in No 29 Squadron markings. A QinetiQ Banshee Whirlwind target was destroyed by the single APKWS rocket fired.

Less than one week later, on 26 April, photos and videos were released showing the weapon being carried by a No IX Squadron Typhoon, ZK353, at RAF Akrotiri. Interestingly, the aircraft had an asymmetric loadout, carrying only a single rocket pod on station 3 (starboard underwing, outer) along with an ASRAAM outboard on station 1 and two ASRAAMs under the opposite (port) wing on stations 2 and 4. Fuel tanks were carried on stations 5 and 6. A Litening 5 laser designator pod was carried under the centreline (station 0), with four Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles carried on stations 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Carriage of just a single pod of seven rockets surprised some observers, who had expected an initial symmetrical loadout of two, four or even six pods. It was certainly less than the theoretical maximum of four triple clusters of rocket pods (84 rockets) that the Typhoon could carry. However, even the addition of a single pod adds seven new effectors, thereby providing a volume of fire that is unmatched using conventional air-to-air missile loadouts.

Rapid procurement and testing work by the UK Ministry of Defence and industry partners BAE Systems and QinetiQ was claimed to have enabled APKWS on Typhoon to move from testing to an operational deployment in less than two months.