F‑35b flights mark new chapter with MBDA Meteor integration
An F-35B belonging to the US Marine Corps has begun test flights with the long-range air-to-air missile MBDA Meteor.
According to the Royal Air Force, on February 28, 2025, an F-35B of the US Marine Corps conducted its first test flights with the MBDA Meteor missile. So far, only a test specimen has been carried, and its sensors were tasked with gathering environmental data necessary for further integration stages of the missile with F-35B aircraft used by the United Kingdom.
The flights took place from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, thanks to cooperation between the UK and US governments, as well as organizations such as Defence Equipment & Support and industrial partners MBDA and Lockheed Martin. Air Commodore Al Roberts, head of the RAF's air-to-air missile division, also commented on the historic event.
MBDA Meteor — a unique air-to-air missile from Europe
The MBDA Meteor missile is a European project created with the cooperation of six countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Sweden. Its mass production began in 2003. This advanced air-to-air missile has now been integrated with Swedish Gripens, European Eurofighters, and French Rafales.
The Meteor is estimated to have a range of up to 200 kilometres. Its advantage over competitive solutions like AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles lies in better manoeuvrability in the final phase of flight. While a typical rocket engine, such as a solid-fuel type, burns out a few seconds after launch and the missile then moves by momentum, the MBDA Meteor still has an active engine.
Original solution
The MBDA Meteor uses a small rocket engine in the initial phase to accelerate the missile to the speed necessary to activate the ramjet engine. This differs from rocket engines in that it takes the oxygen needed for the combustion reaction from the atmosphere, rather than from an oxidizer contained in the rocket fuel. This allows more combustible material to fit in the same space, resulting in a longer duration.
Additionally, the Meteor's engine can adjust its thrust, which allows it to, for example, conserve fuel for the final phase of the flight, when the target may be performing evasive manoeuvres. An active radar seeker and a two-way communication link with the aircraft track the target, allowing for corrections regarding the location of the object to be destroyed by the fragmentation warhead.
