Sounds a bit like a Sparrow III with AIM-120C seeker. No-escape zone 45km – in your dreams only, brother! Speed at M4 seems a bit low. And comparing it with the MBDA Meteor (or does he think of the AAM-N-5 Meteor?) is a joke; that thing won’t fly before 2010.
Meteor won’t fly before 2010? MBDA, the missile’s developers, seem to have a different view.
Regarding Gripen trials, read on:
(Source: MBDA; issued Apr. 21, web-posted Apr. 28, 2004)
Another significant milestone for the Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) program was successfully achieved today in Linköping, Sweden. MBDA and its Meteor partner, SAAB, undertook the first trial fit of a geometrically representative Meteor missile with the JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft. The trial fit was a complete success with all objectives fully met.
The trial, which proved the compatibility of the mechanical interfaces between the Meteor missile, the Gripen’s Multi Missile Launcher (MML) and the aircraft, is highly significant as the Gripen will be the launch platform for the first air-launched live missile firing scheduled to take place at the Vidsel range in Sweden in the autumn of 2005.
Since the UK’s Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) awarded the Meteor contract in December 2002 on behalf of the UK and the other five Meteor partner nations, MBDA has moved the program ahead at pace. Sub-scale aerodynamic wind tunnel trials have recently been completed at BAE Systems’ testing facility in Warton, UK as well as in Modane, France. These trials successfully tested the functioning of the missile’s innovative air intakes for its ramjet motor and also validated the computer modelling results of its dynamic loading and aerodynamic characteristics. Consequently, Meteor’s configuration is confirmed for the first flight trials.
Prior to these flight trials, Meteor will be tested in a full-scale live firing at various angles of incidence and side-slip in the Modane ground test facility where representative flight altitudes and missile speeds will be simulated. This will be undertaken in early 2005 and the facility is currently being commissioned in readiness.
Commenting on the Meteor program’s demanding milestones and MBDA’s progress to date, Guy Griffiths, MBDA’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are now some 15 months into the program and have achieved all deliveries in accordance with the contract. This now totals some 200 deliveries and milestones equating to more than one customer delivery every two working days. A lot of this success is due to the effective collaboration and the very open working relationship between the Meteor team and the International Joint Project Office representing the interests of the six customer nations.”
Marwan Lahoud, MBDA’s Chief Executive Officer said: “The success of this latest milestone and the program to date is evidence of MBDA’s commitment to becoming the weapon systems partner of choice. It is also further proof of the company’s ability as prime contractor to head major multi national programs and work effectively with the world’s major combat aircraft platform manufacturers.”
MBDA has now received aircraft integration contracts to work with Eurofighter, Dassault Aviation and Saab Aerosystems, the three candidate aircraft platforms for Meteor. These aircraft integration programs will be conducted in parallel with Meteor development, thereby enabling the air forces of each of the six partner nations to optimize their in-service dates.
The Meteor contract is planned for completion in late 2010, following development guided firings from both Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon.
Linköping is the site of Saab’s Gripen testing facility in Sweden.
The Modane test facility is operated by ONERA (Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales) the French national aerospace research establishment.
The £1.2 billion (1.86 billion euro) fixed price prime contract for Meteor was signed in December 2002 at the Defence Procurement Agency in Abbey Wood, Bristol by the DPA on behalf of the Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Meteor is the future long-range air-to-air armament selected jointly by Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK for the Eurofighter Typhoon, by France for the Rafale and Sweden for the Gripen fighter aircraft. The ramjet technology and advanced seeker capabilities of Meteor will provide these aircraft with the most advanced weapon system capable of countering all projected air-to-air threats.
Meteor is a highly maneuverable, fast, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air weapon system. Guidance is provided by an active radar seeker, based on the enhanced technologies from the MBDA Aster and Mica missile programs. The missile is designated targets from the launch aircraft and is capable of operation by night or day, in all weather and in dense electronic warfare environments.
Powered by ramjet propulsion, the motor provides Meteor with a high speed performance, which is maintained throughout the engagement. This gives the weapon the energy to defeat fast, maneuvering targets at extreme range. Meteor is equipped with both a proximity and impact fuse, which, in conjunction with the blast fragmentation warhead, ensures total target destruction.
Meteor’s kinematics and high kill probability combine to ensure an unequalled combat performance and pilot survivability, even against the severest of threat scenarios.
Meteor is designed for compatibility with current and future aircraft missile launchers thereby facilitating integration with all contemporary and future combat aircraft.
With an annual turnover exceeding 2 billion euros, a forward order book of over 14 billion euros and over 70 customers world wide, MBDA is a world leading, global missile systems company. MBDA currently has 45 missile system and countermeasure programs in operational service and has proven its ability as prime contractor to head major multi-national projects.
MBDA is jointly owned by BAE Systems (5%), EADS (37.5%) and FINMECCANICA (25%).
-ends-
Sign In
