Meteor BVRAAM operational on Italian Eurofighters

Seen prior to being scrambled in support of NATO's air policing mission out of Romania, an Italian Eurofighter seen fitted for the first time during an operational mission with the Meteor BVRAAM. (Italian Air Force)

The MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) is now operational aboard Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana: AMI) Eurofighter Typhoon (designated F-2000 in national service) combat aircraft.

The service posted imagery of its aircraft fitted with the missile on 8 May, noting that the image of the Meteor-armed Eurofighters of the Task Force Air 51st Wing stationed at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base in Romania was taken in late April.

With a speed of more than Mach 4 and a range in excess of 100 km, the Meteor has been described by industry and military officials as providing a step change in air-to-air combat capabilities. Whereas similar-type missiles have a relatively short boost phase after launch, after which they glide to the target while bleeding energy, the Meteorʼs ramjet means it is propelled up to the point of impact. This reduces the adversary aircraft's chances of escaping the missile and gives the pilot more assurance of success when engaging enemy aircraft.

Now in service with the four Eurofighter partner nations of Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the Meteor was first operationally deployed aboard the aircraft type by the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) in December 2018. The Meteor programme also includes France for the Dassault Rafale and Sweden for the Saab Gripen. It has also been exported to Brazil (Gripen), Egypt (Rafale), Greece (Rafale), India (Rafale), Qatar (Eurofighter), Saudi Arabia (Eurofighter), and South Korea (KAI KF-21).

For more information on Italian Air Force Eurofighters, please see Italy signs for follow-on Eurofighters .