BAE Systems sees strong APKWS interest for Eurofighter operators beyond UK

A still from a QinetiQ video showing 2026 live firing trials of the APKWS from a Eurofighter Typhoon for the C-UAS role. With the UK now fielding the combination operationally, other customers of the Eurofighter are looking to do the same. (QinetiQ)

BAE Systems is seeing strong interest from non-UK operators of the Eurofighter combat aircraft in its AGR-20A Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rockets for the counter unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) role.

Speaking at the company's Warton facility in northern England, Richard Hamilton, Managing Director, Air Operations, said that following the rapid integration of the APKWS for the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) earlier in 2026, the other nine customers of the Eurofighter have expressed interest in doing the same.

“I would say all that there is strong interest from all of the [Eurofighter] users – all 10, recognising that Türkiye is not yet a user. We are seeing it from the global fleet of [Eurofighter] users,” Hamilton said on 18 June 2026. Besides the UK, the Eurofighter customer base comprises the other partner countries of Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as export customers Austria, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), BAE Systems, and QinetiQ announced on 17 May 2026 that integration of the BAE Systems Inc. APKWS aboard the Eurofighter had proven successful, and that the system was now being employed operationally in the Middle East by 9 Squadron at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. No further details as to the use of the system were provided, nor was it disclosed if it had yet been fired against hostile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).