Missile Meteor

The Meteor missile originated from a UK requirement in the early 1990s for a Future Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile to arm its Eurofighter aircraft, intended to replace the Skyflash missile. This led to a competition where a European consortium's proposal, named Meteor, was selected in May 2000 over a US-backed offer. The programme formally brought together the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, with MBDA as the prime contractor. Full-scale development commenced in 2003, supported by multinational investment and workshare agreements allocating distinct programme shares to each partner nation. Key milestones included the first Air Launched Demonstrator firing from a JAS 39 Gripen in 2006, and despite some programme timeline adjustments, development progressed through various testing and integration phases. The missile design itself evolved, notably moving to a wingless configuration based on advanced guidance and control experience. A later development involves a collaborative project with Japan, initiated in 2014, to develop a Joint New Air-to-Air Missile derived from Meteor technology.

The Meteor is an active radar-guided beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile engineered for air dominance. Its core capability stems from a throttleable ducted rocket, or ramjet, propulsion system, which allows it to maintain high supersonic speeds throughout its flight, engage targets at very long ranges, and achieve a significant no-escape zone. This propulsion system also provides thrust for mid-course acceleration, enhancing its effectiveness against highly maneuverable targets such as jet aircraft, as well as smaller threats like UAVs and cruise missiles, even in dense electronic countermeasures environments. The missile features inertial guidance with mid-course updates via a two-way datalink, which also allows for retargeting and transmission of missile status, and terminal active radar homing. Its high-explosive blast-fragmentation warhead is triggered by a proximity or impact fuze. The missile is described as having substantially greater kinetic performance compared to contemporaneous air-to-air missiles.

The Meteor missile officially entered service in 2016, with the Swedish Air Force being the first to achieve initial operating capability on its JAS 39 Gripen aircraft. It has since been integrated onto several European fighter platforms, including the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Saab JAS 39 Gripen, serving with the air forces of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. Beyond the core European partners, the Meteor has been exported to various international customers operating these aircraft, including Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The Royal Air Force flew its first active mission with Meteor-equipped Typhoons in December 2018. Integration efforts are ongoing or planned for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II for several nations, including the UK and Italy, and for the South Korean KAI KF-21 Boramae fighter. The missile is designed for ease of support, with no line maintenance required and an extended airborne carriage life before depot-level servicing.