Meteor seen on a Gripen ...

... and the Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon. All three fighters have been undergoing tests with the MBDA Meteor missile equipped with fully functional subystems--signalling a first in any missile's development programme as all three designated aircraft are being tested in parallel. The Gripen was the first to fly with the Meteor underwing; 13 December 2005 saw the first tests undertaken from Saab field in Linkoping, Sweden--the Gripen will also perform the first air-launched live missile firing sometime in 2006. A joint MBDA-Dassault team managed the trials of the Meteor from the Rafale M, which is the single-seater, carrier-based version that is in service with the French Navy. The Meteor-laden Rafale underwent around 20 catapult launches, a number of touch-and-goes and 20 arrested landings on the Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean. The Eurofighter Typhoon underwent trials with the Meteor on 15 December at the Typhoon operational Evaluation Unit based at RAF Coningsby. But one week later the United Kingdom signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia on the sale of Eurofighter Typhoons to the Royal Saudi Air Force as replacements for the service's Tornado fleet. No further details of that arrangement have been released.

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