Meteor Approaching: Arming the Typhoon, Rafale, an

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article on the Meteor AAM. It's a long one so check out the link.

Meteor Approaching

Arming the Typhoon, Rafale, and Gripen

eDefenseOnline

by Michal Fiszer

Feb. 8, 2006

Despite still being in the relatively early stages of development, the Meteor missile has achieved a significant number of program milestones, including a few key ones in the latter part of 2005.

On Sept. 7, 2005, the first Meteor Ground Handling Training Missiles (GHTMs) were flown on a Rafale fighter at Istres in southeastern France. The Meteor GHTM represents the dynamic properties of an operational missile such as size, mass, and aerodynamic configuration. Later in the year, on Dec. 13, a so-called "Meteor Avionics" missile was first flown on a Gripen fighter in Linköping, Sweden. An avionics missile not only has all of the dynamic properties of an operational missile, but it also behaves exactly like an operational missile with regard to the computer hardware and software interfaces between it and the aircraft.

Despite still being in the relatively early stages of development, the Meteor missile has achieved a significant number of program milestones, including the first flight of a so-called "Meteor Avionics" missile on a Gripen fighter in Linköping, Sweden.