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There’s No Escaping MBDA’s Meteor Missile

DrSomnath999

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MBDA has successfully completed firing trials of Meteor, the missile that will be carried by the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen, and the company is now preparing to start production. The collaborative effort by six European nations has been nine years in development but has produced a beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) that is “vastly superior to anything else in the market,” according to chief engineer Andy Bradford.


When it received the development contract at the end of 2002, MBDA was set the task of producing a missile with a “no escape zone” that was larger than any other AAM, specifically the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM. This has been achieved by combining a clever boost-ramjet propulsion system with an active radar seeker derived from MBDA’s Aster and Mica missiles.

According to Bradford, control of the propulsion system gives the Meteor a decisive edge. He explained that compared to current medium-range AAMs, the booster on Meteor is smaller but the missile sustains a high cruise speed throughout the intercept sequence, and may even accelerate as it closes on the target.

The weapon’s electronics and propulsion control unit (ECPU) calculates the appropriate cruise speed depending on the launch condition and the target’s altitude, and adjusts the ramjet’s air intake and duct covers accordingly. The distance that the Meteor has to fly is unknown as yet–the target may be maneuvering, for instance. The ECPU monitors that distance and the missile’s remaining fuel. When the range to go indicates that the missile won’t run out of fuel if it accelerates, the throttle is fully opened to maximize the intercept speed. If the target is at maximum range, there will be little if any acceleration.

“The aim is to turn all of the fuel into speed by target intercept, but not before,” Bradford explained. “The Meteor’s reach and supersonic speed dominates the engagement space,” he continued.

For the first time, MBDA has detailed the long and painstaking process of ground and air tests that has brought the Meteor to production-ready status. The contract included staged payments that were made only when certain milestones were reached.

The Meteor first got airborne in 2005 on a Rafale launched from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. But the seven early demonstration firings were all done from a Gripen on the Vidsel range in Sweden, starting in 2006. These flights were from the Gripen’s rail launcher. They were followed by four tests of the ejector launcher on a Eurofighter, at various altitudes and g-loads.

Having flight-tested various intercept profiles, MBDA defined the changes required in the next batch of missiles–the preproduction standard. The first of these guided firings (GFs) was from a Gripen in mid-2009 in a snap-down, tail-chase engagement. That tested the seeker against background clutter. Then came five ejector-launched GFs over the Hebrides range in northern Scotland from UK Royal Air Force Tornado F.3 interceptors operated by QinetiQ.

GF2 was a tough test of the missile’s ability to snap-up through thick air in a tail chase. GF3 then tested high-altitude performance, GF4 was a longer snap-down tail chase against background clutter and GF5 was a high-speed head-on engagement at “well in excess of 100 kilometers,” said Bradford. The Meteor’s actual maximum range is classified.

Finally, GF6 was another long-range and head-on engagement in March-April of this year that fully tested the missile’s data link to and from the launch aircraft. Bradford noted that the targets for all except GF5 were high-subsonic Mirach drones with a radar cross section “equivalent to a real-world fighter,” according to Bradford. GF5 engaged a BQM-167 drone.

“All the targets conducted a final evasive maneuver,” added Bradford. There have since been three more firings from the Tornados over the Aberporth range off the coast of Wales, to test the Meteor’s performance against countermeasures (chaff and jammers).

MBDA admitted to setbacks in the test program. A total of 21 firings were required to achieve the 16 successful ones described above. For instance, just one incorrect line of new software code defeated the first attempt to demonstrate GF3, by causing the location data transmitted from the aircraft to the missile to be misinterpreted. GF4 had to be re-flown after a telemetry problem, and so did GF6 after a connector/cable problem prevented the motor from igniting. “There were no short cuts in this development, we had six nations watching us all the time,” Bradford noted. The last three firings on the Aberporth range were all first-time successes and direct hits, he added.

The warhead and seeker have yet to be tested in combination, but Bradford is confident that enough firings have been conducted. “We’ve collected vast amounts of data to prove the model,” he said.

Interspersed with the firings have been more than 40 captive-carry flights to test the seeker and a host of ground trials. These included structural and reliability testing, more than 100 warhead firings by Bayern Chemie in Germany and intensive munition trials to satisfy the French authorities that the Meteor could go to sea with the naval Rafale. The missile must be able to withstand 1,000 hours of airborne captive carry (although the motor must be changed at 500 hours).

What comes next? MBDA has already delivered some ground-handling training missiles from its factory in Lostock, Scotland. That site will carry out final assembly for all six nations, once they have signaled final acceptance. MBDA expects them to do so by the end of the year. Only Germany has yet to confirm a production contract.

The first integration firing from the Gripen has already been completed, and live captive-carry trials have been flown on the Rafale. Those warplanes should be carrying the Meteor in operations by 2015. As for Eurofighter, the main integration contract has not yet been finalized, which could delay the projected UK in-service date of July 2015. MBDA has just finished work on a preliminary contract with Lockheed Martin to study how Meteor will fit into the F-35’s internal weapons bay. Wind tunnel tests to study the airflow around the bay doors as the missile is ejected will be next. The UK’s first operational F-35s will carry AMRAAMs, but the Meteor is scheduled for the stealth fighter’s Block 4 software release.

MBDA reports significant export interest in the Meteor. The U.S. has no equivalent–unless a secret (“black”) program is under way. Operational analysis conducted by the company suggests that a fighter firing the Meteor is six to eight times more likely to survive an air-to-air engagement against a representative threat than one equipped with a currently available medium-range AAM. However, it remains to be seen whether the European governments that sponsored the development will be willing to share Meteor’s advanced technology with many other countries.
There

JUST IMAGINE FOLKS WHAT KILLER PLATFORM WOULD RAFALE BE WHEN IT IS GOING TO BE ARMED BY RAMJET POWERED METEOR BVRAAM & LONG RANGE MICA IR BVRAAM MISSILE:yahoo::partay::smokin:
 
Is their any chance of indian airforce getting this missile to arm it soon to be inducted Rafale fighter plane.
I hope indian airforce would consider it.
Becoz it will give us a major advantage in Sub continent region and in any war with our enemies:guns:
 
608-meteor-fired-from-tornado.jpg


MBDA has successfully completed firing trials of Meteor, the missile that will be carried by the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen, and the company is now preparing to start production. The collaborative effort by six European nations has been nine years in development but has produced a beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) that is “vastly superior to anything else in the market,” according to chief engineer Andy Bradford.


When it received the development contract at the end of 2002, MBDA was set the task of producing a missile with a “no escape zone” that was larger than any other AAM, specifically the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM. This has been achieved by combining a clever boost-ramjet propulsion system with an active radar seeker derived from MBDA’s Aster and Mica missiles.

According to Bradford, control of the propulsion system gives the Meteor a decisive edge. He explained that compared to current medium-range AAMs, the booster on Meteor is smaller but the missile sustains a high cruise speed throughout the intercept sequence, and may even accelerate as it closes on the target.

The weapon’s electronics and propulsion control unit (ECPU) calculates the appropriate cruise speed depending on the launch condition and the target’s altitude, and adjusts the ramjet’s air intake and duct covers accordingly. The distance that the Meteor has to fly is unknown as yet–the target may be maneuvering, for instance. The ECPU monitors that distance and the missile’s remaining fuel. When the range to go indicates that the missile won’t run out of fuel if it accelerates, the throttle is fully opened to maximize the intercept speed. If the target is at maximum range, there will be little if any acceleration.

“The aim is to turn all of the fuel into speed by target intercept, but not before,” Bradford explained. “The Meteor’s reach and supersonic speed dominates the engagement space,” he continued.

For the first time, MBDA has detailed the long and painstaking process of ground and air tests that has brought the Meteor to production-ready status. The contract included staged payments that were made only when certain milestones were reached.

The Meteor first got airborne in 2005 on a Rafale launched from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. But the seven early demonstration firings were all done from a Gripen on the Vidsel range in Sweden, starting in 2006. These flights were from the Gripen’s rail launcher. They were followed by four tests of the ejector launcher on a Eurofighter, at various altitudes and g-loads.

Having flight-tested various intercept profiles, MBDA defined the changes required in the next batch of missiles–the preproduction standard. The first of these guided firings (GFs) was from a Gripen in mid-2009 in a snap-down, tail-chase engagement. That tested the seeker against background clutter. Then came five ejector-launched GFs over the Hebrides range in northern Scotland from UK Royal Air Force Tornado F.3 interceptors operated by QinetiQ.

GF2 was a tough test of the missile’s ability to snap-up through thick air in a tail chase. GF3 then tested high-altitude performance, GF4 was a longer snap-down tail chase against background clutter and GF5 was a high-speed head-on engagement at “well in excess of 100 kilometers,” said Bradford. The Meteor’s actual maximum range is classified.

Finally, GF6 was another long-range and head-on engagement in March-April of this year that fully tested the missile’s data link to and from the launch aircraft. Bradford noted that the targets for all except GF5 were high-subsonic Mirach drones with a radar cross section “equivalent to a real-world fighter,” according to Bradford. GF5 engaged a BQM-167 drone.

“All the targets conducted a final evasive maneuver,” added Bradford. There have since been three more firings from the Tornados over the Aberporth range off the coast of Wales, to test the Meteor’s performance against countermeasures (chaff and jammers).

MBDA admitted to setbacks in the test program. A total of 21 firings were required to achieve the 16 successful ones described above. For instance, just one incorrect line of new software code defeated the first attempt to demonstrate GF3, by causing the location data transmitted from the aircraft to the missile to be misinterpreted. GF4 had to be re-flown after a telemetry problem, and so did GF6 after a connector/cable problem prevented the motor from igniting. “There were no short cuts in this development, we had six nations watching us all the time,” Bradford noted. The last three firings on the Aberporth range were all first-time successes and direct hits, he added.

The warhead and seeker have yet to be tested in combination, but Bradford is confident that enough firings have been conducted. “We’ve collected vast amounts of data to prove the model,” he said.

Interspersed with the firings have been more than 40 captive-carry flights to test the seeker and a host of ground trials. These included structural and reliability testing, more than 100 warhead firings by Bayern Chemie in Germany and intensive munition trials to satisfy the French authorities that the Meteor could go to sea with the naval Rafale. The missile must be able to withstand 1,000 hours of airborne captive carry (although the motor must be changed at 500 hours).

What comes next? MBDA has already delivered some ground-handling training missiles from its factory in Lostock, Scotland. That site will carry out final assembly for all six nations, once they have signaled final acceptance. MBDA expects them to do so by the end of the year. Only Germany has yet to confirm a production contract.

The first integration firing from the Gripen has already been completed, and live captive-carry trials have been flown on the Rafale. Those warplanes should be carrying the Meteor in operations by 2015. As for Eurofighter, the main integration contract has not yet been finalized, which could delay the projected UK in-service date of July 2015. MBDA has just finished work on a preliminary contract with Lockheed Martin to study how Meteor will fit into the F-35’s internal weapons bay. Wind tunnel tests to study the airflow around the bay doors as the missile is ejected will be next. The UK’s first operational F-35s will carry AMRAAMs, but the Meteor is scheduled for the stealth fighter’s Block 4 software release.

MBDA reports significant export interest in the Meteor. The U.S. has no equivalent–unless a secret (“black”) program is under way. Operational analysis conducted by the company suggests that a fighter firing the Meteor is six to eight times more likely to survive an air-to-air engagement against a representative threat than one equipped with a currently available medium-range AAM. However, it remains to be seen whether the European governments that sponsored the development will be willing to share Meteor’s advanced technology with many other countries.
There

JUST IMAGINE FOLKS WHAT KILLER PLATFORM WOULD RAFALE BE WHEN IT IS GOING TO BE ARMED BY RAMJET POWERED METEOR BVRAAM & LONG RANGE MICA IR BVRAAM MISSILE:yahoo::partay::smokin:

Indians always have to resort to imaginations!
come on guys,get real!
the Rafale is taking atleast another 10 years to see regular service in IAF,take my word.Is the deal signed atleast?????
What happened to AStRa BVRAAM?scrapped?
 
Indians always have to resort to imaginations!
come on guys,get real!
the Rafale is taking atleast another 10 years to see regular service in IAF,take my word.Is the deal signed atleast?????
What happened to AStRa BVRAAM?scrapped?

Mate, Soon French President I visiting India... I Promise that the deal will be signed and you don't need to wait for 10 years. :cheesy:;)
 
Indians always have to resort to imaginations!
come on guys,get real!
the Rafale is taking atleast another 10 years to see regular service in IAF,take my word.Is the deal signed atleast?????
What happened to AStRa BVRAAM?scrapped?

Do some research before posting.
Deal will be signed by this years end and 18 rafale will be brought off the shelf to be delivered with in around 3 years so by 2015 we will start inducting rafale.

Astra BVRAAm will get inducted and they will start doing ASTRA MK2 missile with greater range.
 
Indians always have to resort to imaginations!
come on guys,get real!
the Rafale is taking atleast another 10 years to see regular service in IAF,take my word.Is the deal signed atleast?????
What happened to AStRa BVRAAM?scrapped?
i think there should be rule in this forum

that persons who are drunk or drugged shouldnot be allowed to do posting :lol:

Oh Common !!! u guys are preaching sermons on reality meanwhile u guys have inducted pakistan's stealth fighter JXX & pirated lavi copy J10 in ur imaginations :whistle:

gimme me a break:wave:
 
Mate, Soon French President I visiting India... I Promise that the deal will be signed and you don't need to wait for 10 years. :cheesy:;)

Do some research before posting.
Deal will be signed by this years end and 18 rafale will be brought off the shelf to be delivered with in around 3 years so by 2015 we will start inducting rafale.

Astra BVRAAm will get inducted and they will start doing ASTRA MK2 missile with greater range.


Lets see. Eurofighter is planning a comeback and that may hold back the deal. Any hint of corruption and the investigation will also delay it.

Lets see when the deal will be finalized.

BTW,what steps has HAL taken so far to produce rafale in India?.I'll bet they are siting duck as usual.
Any plans to add any Indigenous contents in Rafale?No right?
I am not commenting on Astra BVRAAM,as its like any other Indian project,Bstill under development!
 
Indians always have to resort to imaginations!
come on guys,get real!
the Rafale is taking atleast another 10 years to see regular service in IAF,take my word.Is the deal signed atleast?????
What happened to AStRa BVRAAM?scrapped?

Astra BVRAAM was announced as ready for induction in 2011 alone , currently we are integrating it with Su30MKI , it will replace some 800 R-77 currently in service and used by Mig29 and Su30 MKI

First Batch is infact expected to be operational by 2013 with Su30MKI and with Mig29UPG by 2015

We have also begun development of Astra MK2 with 110 Km range
 
Lets see. Eurofighter is planning a comeback and that may hold back the deal. Any hint of corruption and the investigation will also delay it.

Lets see when the deal will be finalized.

BTW,what steps has HAL taken so far to produce rafale in India?.I'll bet they are siting duck as usual.
Any plans to add any Indigenous contents in Rafale?No right?
I am not commenting on Astra BVRAAM,as its like any other Indian project,Bstill under development!

In the recently conducted global leaders meeting only when PM. manmohan singh met with french president he assured him that decision about MRCA will not be changed.
He clarified that rafale is our choice and their not gone be change init.

Their goes your briliant theory of delay in induction
 
Lets see. Eurofighter is planning a comeback and that may hold back the deal. Any hint of corruption and the investigation will also delay it.

Lets see when the deal will be finalized.

BTW,what steps has HAL taken so far to produce rafale in India?.I'll bet they are siting duck as usual.
Any plans to add any Indigenous contents in Rafale?No right?
I am not commenting on Astra BVRAAM,as its like any other Indian project,Bstill under development!

Rafale is a done deal , most likely it will be signed when the new french president pays a visit
 
Last few lines of the article are interesting. Will we get this missile with Rafale ???
Any possible NO from any of the partners ???
 
Lets see. Eurofighter is planning a comeback and that may hold back the deal. Any hint of corruption and the investigation will also delay it.

Lets see when the deal will be finalized.

BTW,what steps has HAL taken so far to produce rafale in India?.I'll bet they are siting duck as usual.
Any plans to add any Indigenous contents in Rafale?No right?
I am not commenting on Astra BVRAAM,as its like any other Indian project,Bstill under development!

oh boy!!
if u want to ask something then ask it properly ??? the same thing u ask here makes some sense unlike ur previous post.

OK 1st question about EF 2000 comeback .??? l
ans: see typhoon is desperate to clinch this deal as it knows if rafale wins Indian MMRCA then many countries would eventually follows india' s footsteps like Brazil ,malaysia .in the long run it would affect it's sales .So they are trying to a vicious comeback by renegotiating the prices .But chances are slim

2nd question regarding corruption??
ans: well every deal has some kickbacks but IAF is desperate to induct rafale as combat strength is depleting fast
so i think the deal would happen at all costs

3rd question regarding hal's role?

ans: read this magazine extract from air & cosmos magazine u can get some idea
FROM AIR & COSMOS MAGAZINE MAR 2012
17639703.jpg

Who could work with Dassault ?
Air & Cosmos , march 9

To fulfill the conditions of the MoD in matter of offsets, Dassault Aviation will not only work with large state firms like HALand Bharat Electronics, the champion of Indian radars. The MoD wants also to promote the industrial private sector. Its agency for offsets, the Dofa, has referenced fifty players capable of producing equipment or systems for the Indian Rafale. These include Bharat Heavy Electricals, a diversified group which manufactures flight simulators and avionics, Larsen & Toubro (sensors, radars ...), Samtel (cockpit equipment, navigation), the latter being a partner of Thales for renovation of the Indian Mirage 2000 through a JV. There are also Alpha-ITL Electro Optics and Memory Electronics, which manufactures optronic equipment, or groups not necessarily specialists in matter of defense, like Reliance (who just signed an agreement with Dassault), Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Power. The latter has created a division in combat systems and data link. Without forgetting ECIL, which manufactures joysticks and black boxes, or Precision Electronics, specialist in cabling.
In contrast, the Dofa list has few industrial specialized in aerostructures: there is Aurora Integrated Systems and Infra Polytec. Logically, this area is the prerogative of HAL.


Captured and google translated from A&C 2303, page 13




numriser0001xf.jpg


numriser0002a.jpg




Indian Rafale: how Dassault is preparing:
Air & Cosmos , March 9

The manufacturer has six to eight months to prove it can meet the requirements of the Indian authorities in matter of offsets and technology transfers. A short delay , especially as the local industry has still many gaps to fill.

There was contained joy, last January 31, when the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced the selection of the Rafale to equip the Indian Air Force with 126 multimission fighters. The famous MMRCA contract. But the next day, gravity took over at St. Cloud, headquarters of Dassault Aviation. And for good reason. If the manufacturer of the Rafale and its partners Thales and Safran, want to sign a contract in good and due form, they must prove that they can transfer to the Indian industry 50% of this contract, which would amount between 12 and 15 billion dollars according to various estimations. So, 6 to 7 billion in offsets and technology transfer to find before next fall! This is a record, commensurate to the contract. Only the first 18 Rafale will be built in France. The following 108 should be built by the Indian aeronautic's national champion, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), a state corporation. Dassault must not miss the boat. "It's a big reference for French industry and for us, it will represent about 20 million euros in turnover by plane, "emphasizes Jean-Paul Herteman, CEO of Safran, during the presentation of the results of the group, last February 23.

The Indians landed at Dassault.

But the Indians are in a hurry. The MoD announced its intention to sign a definitive contract eight months after the annoucement around September-October. " Since the beginning of February, Indians have sent their best staff in St. Cloud, dozens of brilliant graduates to form working groups with Dassault teams "said a source familiar with the matter. On the French manufacturer side, it is logically Eric Trappier, Dassault director for international affairs, the man of all the negotiations when it comes to export the Rafale , which took things in hand, in conjunction with the technical direction and the management of industrial affairs.
Concurrently, an ad hoc committee will coordinate and centralize the Franco-Indian work , including members like Jean-Marc Gasparini, head of the Rafale program, and representatives of Thales and Safran. On the Indian side, HAL will be the main interlocutor of Dassault.
Naturally, the idea is not to formalize all the offset volume in the smallest details. It would be an impossible mission in such a short time. In this preliminary phase, HAL and Dassault will list all the fields, module per module, where technology transfers are possible, and will establish priorities and a timetable. Then they will give everything a value [price] and sign partnerships with Indian companies. The aircraft and its 30,000 main components will be dissected to identify transferable parts, subassemblies and equipment : from elements of the fuselage to the landing gear, through pipes or embedded systems.
There is plenty to do , the French fighter aircraft contains for example 25 kilometers of cabling and 300,000 rivets! The goal, in a first step, is to define compensation directly related to the Rafale program. Indirect offsets will come later. Concurrently, Dassault will turn on its supply chain: probably not all of the 500 concerned companies, but rather the 250 to 300 most important . "We have not yet been approached by Dassault, but we expect it. This is to Dassault to conduct these first discussions," said Francois Bertrand, president of the board of Latecoere, which manufactures the high back part of the Rafale.

Engineering processes.

Similarly, the manufacturer of St. Cloud will value all the industrial operations hidden but no less strategic in manufacturing an airplane: Process engineering, CAD, referentials of methods ... Finally, and this is not the smallest task to do for the working groups, they will set the price of licenses to be paid by Indian companies selected to have the right to manufacture a particular equipment. On the side of New Delhi, an actor will play an important role: The Defence Offset Facilitation Agency (DOFA). Created in 2006, this organization ,depending of the MoD, plays the role of interface between military, Indian industrialists and foreign suppliers.
[...]

COURTESY: OLYBRIUS
THANK U MATE FOR INFO & MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR TRANSLATION
 
Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale :yahoo:

Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale Rafale :yahoo:
 
Last few lines of the article are interesting. Will we get this missile with Rafale ???
Any possible NO from any of the partners ???
Of course we would be getting meteor as it is going to be installed in rafale,
BY 2016 it would be get operational clearance for Rafale .
MBDA has strong ties with india so no objection from partners for sure

See one thing was sure from the beginning whichever fighter win the deal between typhoon & rafale it would be armed with meteor.Well foreign weapons may also be inducted in rafale butnot sure about that.
 
Lets see. Eurofighter is planning a comeback and that may hold back the deal. Any hint of corruption and the investigation will also delay it.

Lets see when the deal will be finalized.

BTW,what steps has HAL taken so far to produce rafale in India?.I'll bet they are siting duck as usual.
Any plans to add any Indigenous contents in Rafale?No right?
I am not commenting on Astra BVRAAM,as its like any other Indian project,Bstill under development!

brilliant post i must say, btw are u asking questions, or answering something or u asking question urself & answering for urself so that u can get a good night sleep. but mate, u have asked right questions with wrong answers:

1. Eurofighter is planning a comeback - So what in the world can stop them, they have a company to run which cannot if large contracts will go away from it's hand. They are fully free to do whatever they want to sell there product, but we will decide whatever we have to buy. They can plan whatever they want, but ultimately we will do what is in our own interest.

2. lets see when the deal will be finalized - 99% chance that it will be signed by dec 2012, accounting for 1% non signing if say a meteor falls on earth :lol:

3. what step HAL has taken - they have already taken the land on which they will set up a production facility solely for the Rafales + not only this, HAL engineers are already in Dasault facility in France where they are getting first hand knowledge about the engg. into the plane ( this even when deal is yet to sign).

4. Astra BVRAAM another failure - let our armed forces judge that, not a person who not even know what BVRAAM stands for.

5. Any corruption charges will either delay or scrap the deal - It is very very very unlikely, the last thing MOD wants is a revolt of sorts from IAF, since IAF is in desperate need of these planes due to declining nos. & it will never let MOD scrap the deal.
 

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