Eurofighter Typhoon combat jet has successfully conducted development testing of Meteor missiles at the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Hebrides range in Scotland, as part of the programme to integrate the weapon onto the aircraft.
The simultaneous firing of two MBDA Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missiles will pave way for operational evaluation with the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) later this year.
Launched from Airbus Defence and Space's Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) 4, the missile testing is part of work conducted to add additional capability onto Typhoon, ensuring it is ready to meet the threats of the future.
BAE Systems UK Eurofighter delivery director Andy Flynn said: “This is another major milestone on the Meteor programme and the first successful test of a dual firing.
“Meteor brings to Eurofighter Typhoon an unparalleled air-to-air engagement capability and this successful trial, following on from a series of firings last year, is further evidence of how the Eurofighter Partner Companies are working together to deliver major enhancements to Typhoon’s multirole capabilities.”
The Meteor testing was conducted with support from BAE Systems, Eurofighter, MBDA and the UK’s MoD.
The trial validated the missile's ability to successfully engage targets, BAE stated.
A simultaneous two-way data link between two missiles and the aircraft was also tested.
The latest dual firing of Meteor missiles follows a series of six Meteor firings conducted from Typhoon last year.
The customer operational evaluation and training with Meteor is expected to take place with the UK RAF later this year.
Image: Meteor missile firing. Photo: courtesy of BAE Systems.
