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RAF Typhoons Deploy Cheap APKWS Rockets to Guard Hormuz

5/17/2026

Summary

Typhoons Launch APKWS

Typhoon jets from No. 9 Squadron at RAF Akrotiri began Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) combat sorties on 17 May 2026.
Integration finished in two months after March air-to-ground tests and April air-to-air trials.
Each Typhoon carries two seven-round launchers firing $30,000 APKWS rockets at 1-7.5 nm, cheaper than ASRAAM missiles.
The MoD will deploy the Typhons to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, having logged over 2,500 flight hours since February.

Summary

Qinetiq Trials

Qinetiq conducted Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) trials at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Aberporth range on Wales’s west coast.
BAE Systems reported a Typhoon aircraft successfully employed the APKWS against ground targets, proving combat readiness.
Voyager refuelling aircraft from RAF Akrotiri have extended Typhoon and F-35B patrols across the Red Sea.
Qinetiq CEO Steve Wadey said the firm’s engineering and live-trial expertise delivers capabilities that keep allies war-ready.

History

Historical Context

In the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S.-led coalition flew over 100,000 sorties and used laser-guided bombs on roughly 7.4 % of its munitions, achieving about a 90 % hit rate. That precision-strike legacy prompted Britain’s RAF Akrotiri No. 9 Squadron to fit Typhoons with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, extending low-cost, high-accuracy warfare.

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Typhoons Launch APKWS

Typhoon jets from No. 9 Squadron at RAF Akrotiri began Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) combat sorties on 17 May 2026.
Integration finished in two months after March air-to-ground tests and April air-to-air trials.
Each Typhoon carries two seven-round launchers firing $30,000 APKWS rockets at 1-7.5 nm, cheaper than ASRAAM missiles.
The MoD will deploy the Typhons to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, having logged over 2,500 flight hours since February.

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