Meteor Missile: Origins, Development and News

Titus K said:
It appears that France will order significantly more Meteor missiles than previously assumed : the Minister of Defence has announced a new order of 180 missiles in 2026.
Also, another batch was ordered in 2025.

I wonder what the annual production rate is ? J.Bronk has mentioned that MBDA has had trouble in increasing output to meet rising demand.
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Interesting.
First french order in 2010 was 200 units, then cut to 100, and ultimately 160 in 2021.
Are the 180 a really new fresh order or the one of 160 swallen ?
 
Titus K said:
I wonder what the annual production rate is ? J.Bronk has mentioned that MBDA has had trouble in increasing output to meet rising demand.
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That will have been mainly because the additional orders were fairly modest. Primarily from new Rafale users. It's hard to convince component suppliers to increase production capacities without purchase orders covering multiple years....
 
The late report suggest that they faced some manufacturing bottleneck and MBDA had difficulties extending the production. Once again, if you plan to manufacture at a slow pace it can take a great deal of effort and money to then convert the manufacturing process to a higher rate.
Balancing your expectations early-on with long term realistic planning is a difficult exercise that should be done well away from any cost-cutters and their simplified view on such problem.
 
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BonPlan2 said:
One natural evolution of Meteor is a new AESA seeker.
The legacy Meteor use a MICA EM seeker direct derivative.
Now arrive the MICA NG, with an AESA seeker. Easy to imagine what will be fit on Metor NG.
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That will clearly be the next direction of travel, particularly following the JNAAM programme. Personally, I will be a little disappointed if they don't at least consider dual mode with an IIR seeker addition.
 
timmymagic said:
That will have been mainly because the additional orders were fairly modest. Primarily from new Rafale users. It's hard to convince component suppliers to increase production capacities without purchase orders covering multiple years....
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Export according to sipri
~700 meteor missiles to export Rafale users
And that's without the Indian Navy, Serbia, Croatia, Egypt and Indonesia ...




Recipient


Supplier


Designation


Description


Weapon Category


Order Year


Number Ordered


Delivery Years
UAEUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20213000
GreeceUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles2021362023
South KoreaUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20190
BrazilUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20191000
QatarUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20172000
IndiaUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20172002022
QatarUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20151602020
Saudi ArabiaUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20150
 
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timmymagic said:
That will clearly be the next direction of travel, particularly following the JNAAM programme. Personally, I will be a little disappointed if they don't at least consider dual mode with an IIR seeker addition.
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IIR seeker problem is the cooling. This missile has a great range, ie a great flight time. So great that the cooling may be a hard task.
And dual seeker imply more weight, more space, more drag, more energy supply. clearly not simple.
 
BonPlan2 said:
IIR seeker problem is the cooling. This missile has a great range, ie a great flight time. So great that the cooling may be a hard task.
And dual seeker imply more weight, more space, more drag, more energy supply. clearly not simple.
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I'd imagine you wouldn't activate the IIR seeker until you approach target range.
 
Titus K said:
Export according to sipri
~700 meteor missiles to export Rafale users
And that's without the Indian Navy, Serbia, Croatia, Egypt and Indonesia ...




Recipient


Supplier


Designation


Description


Weapon Category


Order Year


Number Ordered


Delivery Years
UAEUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20213000
GreeceUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles2021362023
South KoreaUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20190
BrazilUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20191000
QatarUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20172000
IndiaUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20172002022
QatarUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20151602020
Saudi ArabiaUnited KingdomMeteor MIlong-range air-to-air missileMissiles20150
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The 160 + 200 for Qatar are not for Rafale only. Part is for EF2000.

And Brazil is not a Rafale customer. So is SK.
 
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BonPlan2 said:
The 160 + 200 for Qatar are not for Rafale only. Part is for EF2000.
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i know
700 is just : 300UAE + 36Greece + 200India + 160Qatar

I wonder if egypt will be allowed to order Meteor one day ...
 
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TWZ has recently posted a story about the Meteor AAM in the process of becoming available for Ukraine but there's a catch:

Meteor Long-Range Air-To-Air Missile In The Works For Ukraine, But There’s A Catch
The ramjet-powered missile would allow Ukraine to challenge Russian fighters within their own long-range missiles' engagement zones.THOMAS NEWDICKUPDATED FEB 4, 2026 1:48 PM EST
https://www.twz.com/air/meteor-long...works-for-ukraine-but-theres-a-catch#comments
174
Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Meteor was one of the weapons under discussion for the next Swedish security aid package for Ukraine. Also on the agenda were the Gripen E and undisclosed air defense systems, Saab radars, electronic warfare systems, and drones, including long-range one-way attack drones. The announcement came after talks between the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov and his Swedish counterpart, Paul Jonsson.


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Good news for Ukraine: it looks increasingly likely that it will get its hands on European-made Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, a class of weapon that it badly needs to redress the balance against Russian fighter jets. Bad news: the Meteors would likely only be made available once Kyiv acquires Saab Gripen fighters, a plan that remains questionable, especially in terms of the timelines for when they might materialize.
Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Meteor was one of the weapons being lined up for the next Swedish security aid package for Ukraine. Also on the agenda were the Gripen E and undisclosed air defense systems, Saab radars, electronic warfare systems, and drones, including long-range one-way attack drones. The announcement came after talks between the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov and his Swedish counterpart, Paul Jonsson.










Gripen-E-Meteor.webp
A Gripen E loaded with seven MBDA Meteor missiles. Saab
At the Singapore Airshow this week, a Saab official told Defense News that transfer of the Meteor was under discussion and that it would be “natural” for it to be included in any Gripen package.
“The Meteor missile would be a natural content in a weapon package for any Gripen user […] discussions are taking place with several export nations, including Ukraine,” said Jussi Halmetoja, operations advisor in the air domain at Saab.
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The catch being that the Meteor is likely to only be offered if Ukraine agrees to buy the Griffen (Or possibly the Rafael).
 
NMaude said:
(Or possibly the Rafael).
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Execution!
giphy_s.gif


Jokes aside, Meteor is part of EU fighters suit, rn it just isn't integrated anywhere else (and it isn't integrated into Rafale all that well in any case).
Bolting it to F-16 is sort of commercial suicide for Eu nations. Maybe Rafale will survive, but for Gripen and Eurofighter it will be a deathblow.
 
Ainen said:
Meteor is part of EU fighters suit, rn it just isn't integrated anywhere else (and it isn't integrated into Rafale all that well in any case).
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What is the problem of Meteor integration on Rafale?
You will see in a forseable futur a config with 4 Meteor (already flight tested) and I've read that a 2 way datalink is now part of the Rafale package. So what's missing ?
 
BonPlan2 said:
What is the problem of Meteor integration on Rafale?
You will see in a forseable futur a config with 4 Meteor (already flight tested) and I've read that a 2 way datalink is now part of the Rafale package. So what's missing ?
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Iirc 2-way datalink is F5?
 
The two-way DL is part of the Meteor missile. Rafale can utilise it since F3R, Typhoon since P2Eb. Don't know whether Gripen C has been upgraded accordingly, it was at least the first platform to become operational with it.
 
Scorpion82 said:
The two-way DL is part of the Meteor missile. Rafale can utilise it since F3R, Typhoon since P2Eb. Don't know whether Gripen C has been upgraded accordingly, it was at least the first platform to become operational with it.
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Gripen has it from day 1 as well to my knowledge.
 
NMaude said:
TWZ has recently posted a story about the Meteor AAM in the process of becoming available for Ukraine but there's a catch:

Meteor Long-Range Air-To-Air Missile In The Works For Ukraine, But There’s A Catch
The ramjet-powered missile would allow Ukraine to challenge Russian fighters within their own long-range missiles' engagement zones.THOMAS NEWDICKUPDATED FEB 4, 2026 1:48 PM EST
https://www.twz.com/air/meteor-long...works-for-ukraine-but-theres-a-catch#comments
174


The catch being that the Meteor is likely to only be offered if Ukraine agrees to buy the Griffen (Or possibly the Rafael).
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The war will be ended years before the first eurocanard land in Ukraine.
And at those time money will be diverted to far more urgent needs.
 
BonPlan2 said:
The war will be ended years before the first eurocanard land in Ukraine.
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If Ukraine does go for the Griffen it will almost certainly get the C/D variants which are readily available and they too can carry the Meteor.
 
NMaude said:
If Ukraine does go for the Griffen it will almost certainly get the C/D variants which are readily available and they too can carry the Meteor.
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Per falcon experience, it takes roughly 2 years from the decision.
While it isn't unrealistic for the war to go into 2028-29, decision isn't there yet either.
Realistically, the only way to get something modern fast is to pay for F-16v. But - no meteor.
 
NMaude said:
If Ukraine does go for the Griffen it will almost certainly get the C/D variants which are readily available and they too can carry the Meteor.
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I agree. It is the sole possibility indeed : used 2nd hand Gripen of 1st generation.
 
NMaude said:
TWZ has recently posted a story about the Meteor AAM in the process of becoming available for Ukraine but there's a catch:

Meteor Long-Range Air-To-Air Missile In The Works For Ukraine, But There’s A Catch
The ramjet-powered missile would allow Ukraine to challenge Russian fighters within their own long-range missiles' engagement zones.THOMAS NEWDICKUPDATED FEB 4, 2026 1:48 PM EST
https://www.twz.com/air/meteor-long...works-for-ukraine-but-theres-a-catch#comments
174


The catch being that the Meteor is likely to only be offered if Ukraine agrees to buy the Griffen (Or possibly the Rafael).
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TBH, without a Gripen E or Rafale radar to do the acquisition and targeting, the Meteor would be wasted.
 
Forest Green said:
TBH, without a Gripen E or Rafale radar to do the acquisition and targeting, the Meteor would be wasted.
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What about if the acquisition and targeting is done by one of the two SAAB 340 AWACS aircraft that have been gifted to Ukraine and passed off to the launch aircraft by data-link?
 
NMaude said:
What about if the acquisition and targeting is done by one of the two SAAB 340 AWACS aircraft that have been gifted to Ukraine and passed off to the launch aircraft by data-link?
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As long as the AEW are airborne and safe...
But they would be primary targets for the Russians.
 
BonPlan2 said:
Except if the targeting is made by another jet or AEWC, as it was apparently the case during Sindoor in the pakistan side.
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Pakistan likely had better(bigger) fighter radars than India, though.
I don't think it can be done just by single band AEW, and buddy targeting fighter still needs the range, especially when he's limited by fixed array antenna.

As far as I understand, Ukrainian fighters often come close enough to FLET for bombing attacks, but at ground level. For AMRAAM this isn't enough due to huge altitude disparity. Meteor is different.
 
Ainen said:
Pakistan likely had better(bigger) fighter radars than India, though.
I don't think it can be done just by single band AEW, and buddy targeting fighter still needs the range, especially when he's limited by fixed array antenna.

As far as I understand, Ukrainian fighters often come close enough to FLET for bombing attacks, but at ground level. For AMRAAM this isn't enough due to huge altitude disparity. Meteor is different.
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JF17 radar better than Rafale or SU30 radar???? sure not.
J10 maybe more on par.
 
The latest Block 3 JF-17 has a Chinese developed AESA radar which is capable of guiding the PL-15 BVR missile so it is equal to the Rafale but do not know about the Su-30.
 
BonPlan2 said:
JF17 radar better than Rafale or SU30 radar???? sure not.
J10 maybe more on par.
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J-10ce one is substantially bigger than Rafale rbe; no hard data to compare tech.

Bars is surely bigger, but judging by unhappy noises from Russia, India didn't even do software/backend upgrades.
 
NMaude said:
SAAB has 10 incomplete C/D airframes on its' Griffen production line?
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Aaaaagh someone call the banners on @NMaude misspelling Rafale and Gripen!

On a serious note, yes. Saab made 14 incomplete airframes before switching production line to Jas-39E/F(new tooling). 4 are now finished for Hungary, the rest should remain in stock.
 
Ainen said:
Aaaaagh someone call the banners on @NMaude misspelling Rafale and Gripen!
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Rafale was misspelt due to autocorrect and Griffen is correct as Gripen is Swedish for Griffen.

As for those 10 incomplete C/D airframes well they could be completed for Ukraine.
 
NMaude said:
Griffen is correct as Gripen is Swedish for Griffen.
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Then you should also refer to Squall instead of Rafale.

Could you please, please use Gripen? Before I shall have to refer to Lightning as Bliksem to my aircraft-crazy brother? Or the Spitfire as Heethoofd? And suffer his contempt?

Have mercy on me :confused: Life is hard enough as it is.
 
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FighterJock said:
The latest Block 3 JF-17 has a Chinese developed AESA radar which is capable of guiding the PL-15 BVR missile so it is equal to the Rafale but do not know about the Su-30.
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Just because it's an AESA, or for being able to guide PL-15 doesn't imply equality, inferiority, or superiority. There is much more of relevance than just that and without any particular details any arguments in this respect are just speculative and primarily driven by the mine is better than yours complex.
 

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