Meteor

Europe's air-superiority equalizer — Meteor is the world's only operational ramjet-powered air-to-air missile, and that engine is the whole point: instead of a rocket motor that burns out early and leaves the missile coasting, Meteor's throttleable ramjet keeps thrust available all the way to the target, giving it a "no-escape zone" several times larger than the American AMRAAM's. Built by six European nations through MBDA for the Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale and Gripen, it is the West's premier long-range air-to-air weapon — and it is now reaching Ukraine.

Overview

Meteor is a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) developed by MBDA for six European nations — the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden. Its defining feature is propulsion: a throttleable solid-fuel ducted ramjet that, unlike a conventional rocket motor, can modulate thrust and keep accelerating or sustaining speed across the missile's flight, rather than burning out in the first seconds and gliding the rest of the way. The practical effect is a dramatically larger no-escape zone — the region within which a target cannot outrun or out-turn the missile even with a perfect evasive break — reported at roughly three times that of the AIM-120 AMRAAM. Combined with an active radar seeker and a two-way datalink (so the launching aircraft can update or retarget it in flight), Meteor gives European fighters a decisive reach-and-kill advantage in long-range air combat. It is, in MBDA's framing, the missile that lets a Typhoon or Rafale shoot first and keep the enemy pinned.

🔒 The full Meteor file is for BattlePolicy Pro members. Below the line: development history, design and capabilities, variants, the combat record, advantages and limitations, comparable systems, outlook, the full specifications table, our sourcing, and the analyst assessment — procurement, suppliers and the BattlePolicy verdict. Unlock the full file with BattlePolicy Pro →