Meteor
Meteor
Basic data
Function	long range air-to-air missile
Manufacturer	MBDA
Entered service	development to be completed by 2010
General characteristics
Engine	Bayern-Chemie throttleable ducted rocket/ramjet (TDR)
Launch mass	204 kg
Length	3.67 m
Diameter
Speed	over Mach 4
Range	100+ km
Warhead	HE blast/fragmentation
Guidance	inertial mid course with data linking, Alenia-Marconi active radar terminal guidance
Fuzes	radar proximity and impact sensor
Launch platform	Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen

The Meteor missile is a highly agile long-range air-to-air guided missile for future complex beyond-visual-range (BVR) threat scenarios built by MBDA. Image File history File links This work is copyrighted. ... MBDA is a European arms company which manufactures missiles and is the result of the 2002 merger of Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles (of EADS), Alenia Marconi Systems missile divisions and Matra BAe Dynamics. ... 2010 (MMX) will be a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A warhead is an explosive device used in military conflicts, used to destroy enemy vehicles or buildings. ... The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role canard-delta strike fighter aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, Eurofighter GmbH, formed in 1983. ... The Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. ... The Saab JAS-39 Gripen (Griffin) is a fighter aircraft, originally from Sweden but later also United Kingdom, manufactured by Saab and BAE Systems. ... A US Navy VF-103 Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat fighter launchers an AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile. ... A missile (CE pronunciation: ; AmE: ) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... MBDA is a European arms company which manufactures missiles and is the result of the 2002 merger of Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles (of EADS), Alenia Marconi Systems missile divisions and Matra BAe Dynamics. ...

Meteor started out as the UK MoD Staff Requirement 1239, for a Beyond Visual Range Air-To-Air Missile (BVRAAM) system, to replace the Raytheon AMRAAM missile for the RAF. It will equip the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale and Saab Gripen. The Ministry of Defence (MOD, pronounced em-oh-dee) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ... Raytheon Company NYSE: RTN is a major United States military contractor based in Waltham, Massachusetts. ... The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced am-ram), commonly known to air crews as the Slammer, is a modern air-to-air missile (AAM). ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role canard-delta strike fighter aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, Eurofighter GmbH, formed in 1983. ... The Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. ... The Saab JAS-39 Gripen (Griffin) is a fighter aircraft, originally from Sweden but later also United Kingdom, manufactured by Saab and BAE Systems. ...

Technology

Within its detection range, the radar-seeker takes on autonomous target control in all weather conditions and also in severe electronic warfare environments. The use of a throttleable air-breathing ramjet fed by a solid-propellant gives a range of more than 100 km at speeds of up to Mach 4. This long range radar antenna, known as ALTAIR, is used to detect and track space objects in conjunction with ABM testing at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein atoll[1]. Radar is a system that uses radio waves to detect, determine the distance of, and map, objects such... In an engine, the throttle is the mechanism by which the engines power is increased or decreased. ... A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, is a type of jet engine. ... Mach number (Ma) (pronounced: mæk, mɑːk) is defined as a ratio of the speed of an object or flow relative to the speed of sound in the medium through which it is travelling: Vo/Vs where Vo is the speed of the object and Vs is the speed...

The full contractor list includes besides MBDA, Indra, EADS/CASA, Saab Bofors Dynamics AB and MBDA Deutschland. Saab is an aircraft and automobile concern based in Sweden, founded 1937 in Linköping. ...

History

In 1999, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, came under pressure from US President Bill Clinton to choose an American missile to be the Royal Air Force long range air-air missile for its Eurofighter Typhoon's. Raytheon offered both the Future Medium Range Air-Air Missile (FMRAAM)—an improved ramjet-powered AMRAAM—and the Extended Range Air-Air Missile (EMRAAM), a more modest upgrade. Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role canard-delta strike fighter aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, Eurofighter GmbH, formed in 1983. ... Raytheon Company NYSE: RTN is a major United States military contractor based in Waltham, Massachusetts. ... A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, is a type of jet engine. ... The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range, Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced am-ram), commonly known to air crews as the Slammer, is a new generation air-to-air missile, developed as the result of an agreement between the United States and other NATO countries (see below). ...

In May 2000 Britain announced that the Matra BAe Dynamics Meteor missile system would be the UK's next long-range missile. In a contract worth £1.5 billion, 4,600 UK jobs will be created or guaranteed. One major benefit of having a European missile for a European aircraft (the Typhoon) is that exports will not be subject to American controls—as they would have been if the Raytheon AMRAAM was chosen. Every export sale would have had to have been approved by the Congress of the United States, leading to the scenario where the Eurofighter would be marketed as a plane without an effective next-generation missile that didn't depend on US foreign policy. Matra BAe Dynamics was formed in August 1996 by merger of half the missile business of Matra Defense of France and BAe Dynamics (a division of British Aerospace) of the UK and was Europes largest manufacturer of missiles and UAVs. ... The word billion and its equivalents in other languages refer to either one million million or one thousand million, depending on whether the writer is using the long scale or the short scale. ... Congress in Joint Session. ...

The Meteor selection was not a total loss for U.S. industry, Boeing is part of the team providing aircraft integration and manufacturing technology. The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer. ...

The Meteor is considered to be a high-risk project compared to the choice of an upgraded existing missile, but this is due to the high technology of the project, compared to the low risk development of the proven AMRAAM missile. The commitment to Meteor by the European air forces gives European industry (in this case MBDA) a clear advantage over its American competitors, as America has not committed itself to a similar long-range ramjet missile. This is partly due to the fact that USAF tactics will involve the deployment of the stealthy F-22 Raptor, which is supposed to be able to close to within range of the current AMRAAM undetected, and whose speed, acceleration, and high-speed climb capabilities extends the AMRAAM's range substantially. The Meteor as planned is too large for internal carriage in the F-22 or the F-35 Lightning II although MBDA has planned to adjust the design so that it can fit into the weapons bay of the F-35 which will enter British service. This version of the Meteor would likely fit in the main weapons bay of the F-22A if the USAF later decides to adopt the missile. The US Navy may yet require an equivalent to the Meteor as they will continue to use the more conventional F/A-18E Super Hornet. Seal of the Air Force. ... The F-22 Raptor is a stealth fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. ... The F-35 Lightning II, called in development the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is a single-seat, single-engine military strike fighter, an airplane that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air-to-air combat. ... Four F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets assigned to the Black Aces of Strike Fighter Squadron Forty One (VFA-41) fly over the Western Pacific Ocean in a stack formation. ...

According to an article in Jane's International Defence Review [1], the key expected advantage of the Meteor over current-generation missiles is that it retains high manoeuverability at extended ranges, making it very difficult for its target to escape (assuming the missile can "see" its target). The Meteor's "no-escape zone" is therefore believed to extend to about 80 kilometres, about double that of the AMRAAM.

See also

• European defence procurement
• List of missiles

// History Modern European defence procurement is making a move from a traditional, postwar, United States sponsored effort towards a more independent and competitive capability. ... Below is a list of (links to pages on) missiles, sorted alphabetically by name. ...

External links

• GlobalSecurity.org: Meteor
• MBDA: Meteor (MBDA)
• European missile giant formed (BBC)
• Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) (as.org/)
• Boeing Member of Winning United Kingdom Missile Team (Boeing)
• Meteor (EADS)