The German Air Force has officially equipped the Meteor Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) to increase the attack power of the Typhoon fighter fleet.
The German Air Force has officially received the first batch of Meteor Air-to-Air Missiles (BVRAAM), it is known that the contract for the sale of missiles with the European defence contractor MBDA was signed in 2019.
Although the contract has not been officially disclosed so far, many sources believe that Berlin has to pay more than 205 million USD for 100 rockets.
The German Air Force will integrate Meteor missiles for all of its Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to improve combat performance.
The combination of air-to-air missiles and Typhoon multi-role fighters creates an extremely fearsome weapon in air combat.
The Meteor missile was developed as part of a joint program between NATO members Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK, as well as Sweden – a NATO partner country.
This type of missile was researched and developed in the 1990s and put into use since 2016. The first fighter equipped with Meteor was the Saab JAS-39 Gripen.
Then other types of fighters equipped with Typhoon and F-35 respectively. Meteor rocket weighs 190kg, length 3.7m. Because it is quite similar to the AIM-120 missile, the fighters only need to adjust the software to be able to equip this missile.
The missile reaches Mach 4 speed to be able to pursue targets that are enemy fighters.
The Meteor missile is equipped with a supersonic static jet engine that consumes less propellant due to its flexible operation.
In particular, the rocket’s jet engine can operate in the atmosphere and the space environment.
This means that the Meteor rocket engine does not need to carry much oxygen to ignite liquid hydrogen fuel. This is also the first missile in the world to apply this technology.
Meteor missiles can be used to destroy all kinds of targets flying outside the line of sight, day and night, in all weather conditions.
According to the manufacturer, Meteor creates “an area of no escape” three times larger than conventional missiles, up to over 100 km on a maximum range of 185 km.
“No Escape Zone (NEZ)” is the term for an area in which enemy aircraft would not be able to use pure agility maneuvers to avoid missiles.
With the ability to pursue targets, Meteor is said to be much more powerful than the US AIM-120 AMRAAM missile or Russia’s R-77.
Currently, the air forces of France, India, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain and Germany have been equipped with this extremely dangerous air-to-air missile.