The Rafale fired its third air-air missile METEOR
EXCLUSIVE!
After the first firing of an air-air missile METEOR April 28, 2015, the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), in cooperation with the aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, proceeded to fire missile that same March 21, 2016, and this for the third time.
According to my information, this shot METEOR SS3, "SS" to "Safe Separation" and "3" for the third firing was carried out by the Rafale B301, used to conduct experiments and tests, and equipped with the radar RBE2- EASA Thales.
The aircraft, which took off from the air base 120 Cazaux due to the implementation of the DGA Flight Testing in this basic Air Force, was first made a pass rehearsal shooting, then, subsequently to pass the nominal firing.
The METEOR missile went strike and destroy aerial targets Mirach 100, subsonic drone catapulted from a launch pad on land, or dropped from an aircraft equipped with a device provided for this purpose.
Under this test, the DGA Flight Testing in assured, it is said, "the preparation and coordination" of all air assets involved in these maneuvers, especially regarding the implementation of the Rafale B , the establishment of the missile, and the recovery of various electronic data concernants firing the METEOR.
Remember, from November 2012 to 2014, the Directorate General of Armaments had already conducted, not shooting, but the ejection of several METEOR from a Rafale to test and observe the behavior of the missile during its separation with the shooter aircraft when it starts shooting, and in particular to avoid the METEOR in contact with the device.
The METEOR missile air-air has a ramjet, with the mode "fire and forget", and it is also designed for air defense mission at very long range. With radar performance active antenna RBE2 the Rafale (only European fighter able to implement this type of radar), it will be capable of intercepting targets at long distances, in addition to the current MICA IR missile or EM (Electromagnetic or InfraRed), also used for combat or self-defense. With a top speed of Mach 4, the METEOR has a range of over 100 kilometers (the actual range has never been disclosed for operational reasons).
Launched in 2003, the METEOR is the result of European cooperation between Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the UK and Sweden. This program allows to work several European companies among them-around a common project, such as MBDA-UK (UK = United Kingdom, the industrial prime contractor), together with MBDA France, MBDA-Italy Saab in Sweden, Bayern-Chemie in Germany, and finally to Inmize for Spain.
The missile, currently in integration of some combat aircraft will be able to be used by the Eurofighter Typhoon, implemented by the Royal Air Force, the Luftwaffe, the Ejército del Aire, and the Aeronautica Militare by the JAS-39 Gripen Swedish Air Force, by the Rafale Force French Air and Navy, and finally, in a few years by the F-35.
