On Thursday and Friday, the airfield of the Bundeswehr’s Tactical Air Wing 74 (-> News about the Bundeswehr) in Neuburg two events took place: One was a family festival, the other a mini Tiger Airmeet – the first official presentation of the newly foiled Eurofighter in preparation for the big NATO Tiger Meet 2025 on September 27 and 28 in Beja, Portugal.
The “Castle Tiger” Eurofighter refers by name to the Neuburg Castle Festival and was created by Neuburg designer Alexander Hamm (Hamm Werbung).
MBDA Germany used the event to present part of the armament portfolio for the Eurofighter from Tranche 2 onwards.
Spear (front)
The Spear cruise missile is powered by a turbojet engine and has a range beyond the horizon. This keeps the carrier aircraft safely out of range of enemy air defense systems. Sperr is equipped with an advanced multi-sensor seeker and can engage a wide range of targets both on land and at sea. A multi-effect warhead with multiple fuse options increases lethality while minimizing collateral damage.
In November 2024, the Spear cruise missile was tested for the first time by one of BAE Systems operated Eurofighter Typhoon at the Vidsel firing range in Sweden.
Brimstone (back left)
The Brimstone (-> Bundeswehr procures Brimstone guided missile) is a close air support weapon for fast jets. When deployed, several ground targets can be engaged simultaneously and precisely. The wide range of target types includes fast-moving vehicles, tanks and armored vehicles as well as bunkers.
The multi-sensor seeker head enables three types of use: semi-active laser guidance (SAL) to engage illuminated static targets, combined SAL and millimeter wave radar guidance against fast-moving targets and simultaneous use in “fire-and-forget” mode.
The Brimstone is powered by a rocket motor. The warhead consists of a multi-effect tandem charge with impact, delay or proximity fuse.
Taurus (center back)
The Taurus was recently a recurring topic in connection with possible arms deliveries to Ukraine (-> Latest news from the Ukraine war). The Taurus KEPD 350E is a modular stand-off weapon for precision strikes against high-value targets. It was developed to penetrate dense air defense installations in low-level flight – following the terrain.
A two-stage warhead system combines excellent penetrating power against high-value, hard and deeply buried targets (HDBT) with blast and fragmentation capability against area targets. A programmable multi-purpose fuse allows the penetrator to detonate at pre-selected levels within the target structure using layer counting and cavity detection.
The navigation system uses inertial navigation (INS), which is continuously supported by GPS, image-based and terrain-related sensors. The flight path can be maintained even with limited or no GPS availability.
The weapon is around five meters long, weighs around 1,400 kilograms and is propelled by a turbojet engine over a distance of more than 500 kilometers.
Meteor (back right)
The Meteor is a long-range air-to-air missile developed by MBDA at the request of the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden.
The missile has network-centric capabilities and can be launched from the carrier aircraft – also with target data from third-party platforms – and is continuously supplied with new target information during flight. On final approach, the Meteor is guided by an advanced active radar seeker and offers all-weather capability to engage a wide range of air targets.
Powered by a solid-fuel ramjet engine, the missile has sustained thrust until the target is intercepted. The Meteor offers the largest “no escape zone” of any long-range air-to-air missile system currently available. The explosive fragmentation warhead is detonated by an impact or radar proximity fuse.
The 190-kilogram missile is 3.7 meters long, flies at over Mach 4 and officially has a range of more than 100 kilometers – unofficially it is estimated at over 200 kilometers.
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