Gripen International, Gripen has successfully conducted the first live firing of the six-nation Meteor air dominance missile at the UK’s Hebrides missile range.
Gripen has conducted a successful live firing with the Meteor air-to-air missile, proving once again its reliability as a platform for the integration and testing of complex future missile systems for the world’s new generation combat aircraft. Gripen is the first and so far only fighter aircraft to launch the Meteor, and this firing was the first in the UK.
Meteor was rail-launched from Gripen flying at supersonic speed at an altitude of 42.650ft. After a couple of seconds in the boost phase, Meteor transitioned to its ramjet operation. It then accelerated to speeds in excess of Mach 3, successfully executing various challenging manouevres. The missile followed a pre-programmed flight profile for several minutes and was then broken up in flight within the confines of the UK’s Hebrides missile firing range – all in accordance with the mission profile.
The shot at the Hebrides missile range was a High Altitude Control and Dispersion (C&D) firing, with the purpose of testing the performance of the missile’s integrated boost, ramjet sustain motor and control systems during high altitude supersonic launch, extended free flight and extensive manouevres. This successful firing is not only a significant milestone in the European multinational missile project, but also for Saab, who will continue the firing and radar tests with Meteor up until 2010.
Meteor is the leading missile programme in Europe, in which Saab plays a key and prominent role. In 2001, Swedish authorities signed an international agreement to provide Gripen as a platform for testing the high-tech Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor missile. Saab was involved in the programme as early as 2003, when Saab Bofors Dynamics was awarded a contract to be part of the development and production of the missile. Later that year, Saab Aerosystems received an order from the Swedish Defence Material Administration, FMV, concerning the integration of Meteor on Gripen. In April 2007, Saab was entrusted with the responsibility for carrying out new missile tests with Meteor, which now are being conducted.
The development of Meteor is being carried out as an international industrial project involving the UK, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and Spain. The missile is planned to be the primary air-to-air missile for all the modern European fighter aircraft.
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