BELFAST — F-35As are a step closer to being able to carry the European Meteor beyond-visual-range, air-to-air missile after recently completing a number of ground-based integration tests in the US.
“Conducted at Edwards Air Force Base, California, the ground vibration testing and fit checks validated key hardware responses between the 5th Generation fighter aircraft and missile — a pivotal step before airborne tests begin,” the Lockheed-led industry team’s F-35 website announced on Wednesday. “Engineers meticulously evaluated the data collected from the trials to confirm the safe stowage and deployment of the missile from the F-35A’s internal weapons bay, preserving the aircraft’s valuable stealth profile.”
The announcement said a single outstanding ground test remains for the missile, which is made by European defense firm MBDA and envisioned as arming European F-35 customers, before clearance for the flight test phase occurs.
“As a network-enabled capability, met through weapons data link communication, integrating METEOR onto a fifth-generation platform like F-35 enables its air crew to have the most flexible weapon system and take advantage of both the weapon system and platforms capabilities,” said MBDA in a supporting statement today.
Italy is sponsoring integration of the ramjet-powered weapon on the F-35A, while the UK is leading integration for the F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) model. In March, based on UK and US government collaboration and with support from industry partners, a US Marine Corps F-35B aircraft kicked off initial Meteor flight tests from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, according to the Lockheed-led industry team’s website.
Maria Eagle, then-UK defense procurement minister, said in a June parliamentary statement that Meteor’s “estimated current timeline for in-service capability is expected to be early 2030s,” delayed from a previous service entry target of 2027. Eagle did not share a cause of delay at the time.
“With the F-35 Lightning, the [UK’s Royal Air Force] is already equipped with one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world, and the integration of METEOR will further improve the aircraft’s capability in future years,” a UK MoD spokesperson said in a statement to Breaking Defense at the time.
The Meteor timeline setback is compounded by the UK’s F-35 fleet lacking a standoff, long-range weapon to strike ground targets. The MoD considers the issue its “biggest concern” linked to the fleet as a whole, according to an October UK parliamentary report. The MBDA-made Spear 3 is on contract to deliver such a capability.
“The [Ministry of Defence] Department wants to equip its F-35s with the Spear 3 missile but this is not likely to be in place until the early 2030s, partly because of problems with the supplier [MBDA] and partly because of global programme delays to the required software upgrades,” added the report.
In a separate report from the UK’s National Audit Office, the watchdog said that delays to Spear 3 and Meteor were “caused by poor supplier performance, the MoD negotiating commercial arrangements that failed to prioritise delivery and low priority given to Meteor by the global programme.”
The UK has committed to acquiring 138 F-35 jets. A total of 48 are on contract.