Stewart Penney/LONDON
Matra BAe Dynamics is organising a final push in its bid to win a deal to develop its Meteor missile to equip Royal Air Force Eurofighters ahead of a crucial UK Ministry of Defence Equipment Approvals Committee (EAC) meeting .
The EAC meets on 6 December to discuss the options for the Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) competition. As well as the MBD-led Team Meteor, Raytheon is competing with an offer of a staged approach based on developments of its AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to Air Missile.
The aim of the BVRAAM competition is to produce a weapon to equip the Eurofighters of the four partner nations, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, with Sweden and France also taking part in an attempt to develop a common missile for the Saab Gripen and Dassault Rafale, respectively. The UK MoD plans to decide on BVRAAM in February, making or breaking the Meteor programme.
As the EAC meeting approaches, Sweden, which withdrew from Meteor earlier this year, has effectively rejoined the programme, with only final parliamentary approval to be obtained before the move becomes official. The government's defence plan submitted to parliament last week recommends that industry should join Meteor using its own funds. Industry sources say Sweden has reformed its Meteor project team and has rejoined a number of international working groups.
Swedish aerospace group Saab has been developing the fuse for Meteor and produced a prototype with government funding.
German defence minister Rudolf Scharping has set out Germany's position and possible co-operation plans for Meteor in a letter to his UK counterpart Geoff Hoon. The German defence budget being debated in parliament includes around DM750 million ($244 million) for the development of Meteor.
BVRAAM is designed to counter advanced versions of the Sukhoi Su-27 armed with ramjet-powered developments of the Vympel R-77/RVV-AE/AA-12 Adder. Development of the ramjet missile has been stymied by funding issues leading to a debate on the necessity for a Western ramjet propelled weapon. Yuriy Zakharov, the project's chief engineer, says Vympel is negotiating with the Chinese and others to speed development.
Team Meteor added Boeing to its ranks this year. Boeing and MBD have been discussing the application of the US company's project management skills to the programme and the integration of the missile with US-built fighters.
Source: Flight International
