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Sweden has contracted MBDA UK to provide Meteor active radar-guided missiles for the armed forces’ JAS 39 Gripen C/D supersonic combat aircraft.
The weapon has been operational in Stockholm’s military since 2016 and is equipped on its Gripen, Rafale, and Eurofighter fleets.
MBDA, proprietor of the Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) system, is scheduled to deliver the additional warheads this year.
“The additional procurement of Meteor is part of further increasing the Swedish Armed Forces’ air defense capabilities both nationally and as part of NATO,” Swedish Defence Materiel Administration Combat Aircraft Systems Head Martin Anderberg stated.
“This procurement is the third additional order for the system that the [Defence Materiel Administration] has placed for the Swedish Armed Forces.”
MBDA’s Meteor BVRAAM
The Meteor missile, co-developed with Sweden, the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain, works as a “wingman” capability that interacts with a plane’s sensors and support systems to scan and neutralize airborne threats.
Upon contact, the solution applies a high-explosive multi-shot fragmentation effect that allows users to destroy multiple targets.
The BVRAAM technology is powered by a solid-fuel ramjet that enables a cruise speed of over Mach 4 (4,939 kilometers/3,069 miles per hour) to prevent interception from conventional propellant-powered countermeasures.
The Meteor weighs 190 kilograms (419 pounds), measures 3.7 meters (12.1 feet) long, and has a diameter of 178 millimeters (7 inches).
It has a range of up to 200 kilometers (124 miles).
