In two official videos from August 2 and 3 (see below), the German Air Force shows how Tactical Air Wing 74 begins flight trials and carrying tests with the Meteor long-range air-to-air missile on the EF2000 and the Eurofighter Typhoon. It is planned to complete the operational testing of the new main weapon this summer.
The first flight tests with Meteor were primarily used to extensively test the general flight behavior and, in terms of drag, the fuel consumption of the Eurofighter with the air-to-air missile. To do this, the pilots ran through various scenarios in the air and flew at different altitudes and speeds. “After the first flight, which lasted around an hour and a half, we had all the data we needed to compare the values calculated in advance with the actual values flown,” says Major Michael Kruse from Tactical Air Wing 74 (TaktLwG 74).
Checking the manufacturer’s specifications
Responsibility for the current introduction and troop test of Meteor lies with the Weapon System Support Team Combat Aircraft of the WTD in neighboring Manching. The foundations for the operational test have been laid there. Pre-defined parameters are needed to measure and evaluate the results of the tests. The test center works closely with its squadron in Neuburg a. d. Donau. Before Meteor can be introduced into the air force, his team must first check the following things: Whether the manufacturer’s specifications for the Eurofighter with regard to the new software versions (P2Eb, the most modern in the British RAF is currently P3E) correspond to the actual values; after all, the integration requires a software update lasting several hours in order to store the changes in the flight control software. And as a result, what effects Meteor has on the flight behavior and fuel consumption of the Eurofighter. Kruse continues: “And it is precisely these consumption values that we calculated in advance in simulations with our mission planning software and have now verified with the flight tests.” According to Defense News, the Meteor will be integrated into all German Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, with the exception of the oldest Tranche 1 models. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJHwcJVxc8 However, the drag compared to the previous main weapon AIM120C AMRAAM will hardly change. This is because the parameters of the Meteor, with a length of just under 3.70 meters and a weight of around 180 kilograms, are similar to those of the AMRAAM. “However, we need the exact consumption values in order to precisely calculate our range and maximum flight time with various weapon loads,” says Kruse. Mechanical components on the aircraft were also replaced in order to accommodate Meteor. However, the pick-up points on the aircraft have been modified so that they will be able to transport and fire both the AMRAAM and Meteor in future. Meteor completes the Typhoon’s weapon mix, while AMRAAM and IRIS-T remain in the inventory. According to the Swiss Air Force, this means that “in future, every Eurofighter – with the exception of the Tranche 1 aircraft – will have the optimum armament depending on requirements. This will make pilots more effective, more flexible and more variable in their operational options. This is because they can now react individually to different scenarios by combining the various armaments as required.”
Highly agile right up to the final approach
Militär Aktuell received a briefing on Meteor in Sweden a few years ago, the Flygvapnet was the “pioneer” with it (on Gripen-C/D MS20), Rafále and now Eurofighter followed. There is also talk of a shortened version for the weapon bays of the F-35. One or the special features of the system is its ramjet propulsion. This allows the missile to transport more fuel – without an additional oxidizer. This is because the propulsion system uses oxygen from the ambient air. The ramjet creates the major advantage that Meteor still has enough power and agility on final approach to effectively engage a maneuvering target. “Here we are entering areas where the air force has not yet penetrated in terms of range. The active radar-guided Meteor significantly increases the Eurofighter’s assertiveness and survivability in combat. For the pilots, this results in a higher probability of success and greater safety in air combat,” explains Major Kruse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjCbbgyGQkE The industry signed the contract for Meteor on the Eurofighter back in 2013 in Paris. Germany formally ordered Meteor on December 16, 2019. The developer and manufacturer is the European “missile house” MBDA, founded in December 2001 as a joint venture between the missile divisions of EADS (now Airbus), Finmeccanica (now Leonardo) and BAE Systems. The “European missile” is backed by France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, as well as NATO partner country Sweden.
The issue with the “probable kill” beyond visual range
Now, a range of up to 200 kilometers or far beyond visual range (BVR) may sound like a lot (although the Russians and Chinese are working on up to 400 kilometers against Western high-value targets such as AWACS), but the probable kill ratio claimed by manufacturers in various slides is one of those things. In conversations with Western operational pilots in recent years (Air Force, USAF, AMI, …) – the Russians reflexively say “dogfight will always be in the end” anyway – that “long arm” is hardly doubted in theory and even desired, but as far as practice or reality is concerned, there is audible skepticism about the scenarios or opportunities in which unrestricted action can be taken. On the one hand, for example, because the situational overview in this or that scenario (surveillance-no-fly zone / other air traffic, …) cannot be complete or satisfactory enough to clearly determine the attribute “hostile”. Or/and because the opponent tries to keep its presence or identity hidden for as long as possible by means of modern electronic warfare measures. It can also be deduced from these concerns that those exchanged “salvos” of BVR guided weapons over more than 100 miles are more likely to be expected in a major conflict between similarly strong forces and platforms (“near-peer”). In other words, over the South China Sea or during a breakthrough through the “Suwalki Hole”, or if Sweden and Finland had to jointly defend Scandinavia across half the Baltic Sea.
Pilots are pleased with the high agility of the Meteor, especially towards the end of its respectable range, where AMRAAM, for example, has long since run out of propulsion and is – to exaggerate – just “hanging there”. They also like to believe the 30 G load multiple in the so-called “no escape zone”, which is three times larger than that of AMRAAM. But on balance, practitioners give a probability of destruction of only 13 percent for these long and overlong ranges against targets maneuvering at cruising speed, and only four percent against those maneuvering at maximum speed. And that is only if the target does not defend itself and does not recognize the detection or recognizes it too late (which is one of the ‘constructs’ of BVR). However, if the enemy pilot or his weapon or sensor network protects or defends itself with electronic countermeasures and decoys, this would probably even halve the probability of destruction over the horizon (i.e. the rather pessimistic four to 13 percent). Compared to an estimated 25 percent probability remaining within the visual range (infrared-guided / so-called WVR) despite EloKa.
The “all-weather radar guided missile”
Incidentally, Austrian mission pilots are denied all of this, like being promoted to the “next class” of higher – but for them irrelevant – mathematics (which they nevertheless understand, of course). This is because the half-bays under the fuselage of the 15 domestic aircraft have remained permanently empty since their introduction. According to the author’s recollection, the air chief at the time of procurement wanted at least four AIM-120C AMRAAMs to be included in the order, just to be part of that technical “club” and “stick his nose into BVR” for the first time. In the final contract of 2003, however, there was no longer any mention of this, otherwise the asking price of just under two billion euros could not have been achieved. Today – behind closed doors – we are already talking about Meteor, which, by the way, was explicitly shown to Militär Aktuell in Warton on request on a British (factory) Tranche 1 together with the early AESA radar (“It can be done, George”). Admittedly, the term “all-weather radar guided missile” is used in local parlance. Because – as a former air chief told the author – the attributes “long-range” or “over the horizon” might sound too offensive to the public and versus neighbors. An airchief out of service said that such a system could only be achieved in this country “if the difference to infrared IRIS-T (which is also only operated via an analog interface) was argued in relevance to the often prevailing bad weather and high clouds in winter”. After all, “many in the army have long forgotten that this AWRLW actually represents the main armament of the Eurofighter conceptually together with the radar – which it never received from us.”
