Meteor Missile Upgrade On Gripen Fighter To be Operational In 2015

Saab has completed integration of the MBDA Meteor BVRAAM missile on the Gripen fighter, due to go operational next year.

The Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon will also carry the Meteor. The Gripen previously conducted the first eight developmental test firings of the ramjet-boosted missile.

The final two missile integration firings were conducted on the Vidsel test range in northern Sweden last March. One was from low altitude and one from high altitude, and both occurred while the launch aircraft was maneuvering. The firings demonstrated a long engagement range; engagement of maneuvering targets; aircraft/missile datalink functionality; and missile seeker performance, according to the press statement by Saab. “Sweden now has a head start in developing strategies to use this capability in air combat,” said Tobias Andersson, the company’s project manager for the Meteor integration.

Meteor integration forms part of the MS20 upgrade to the Gripen C/D, now undergoing operational test and evaluation, which is entering service with the Swedish air force next year.