Meteor BVR Air-To-Air Missile

Outstanding features of the Meteor missile include a variable flow, solid fuel ducted ramjet (SFDR) motor, that gives the missile the capability to effectively engage targets at long range, an X-band active seeker, a two way data link, and the ability to obtain mid-course target updates from third party sensors

- Vijainder K Thakur

The Meteor was conceived in the mid-1990s as the European answer to the American AIM120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). The UK, France, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Spain participated in the programme to create the missile with superior range and kinematic performance than the AMRAAM.

The 190-kg missile has a range of around 150-km and features both impact and proximity fuses. Its fragmentation warhead detonates on impact or at the optimum point of intercept.

The Meteor's outstanding feature is its variable flow, solid fuel ducted ramjet (SFDR) motor. A solid fuel ramjet is similar to a solid fuel motor, but since it gets its oxidiser from the atmosphere, a solid fuel ramjet missile can have 3 times the range of a solid rocket motor- powered missile.