From the news of the successful inaugural flight of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet prototype, the appearance of the Meteor medium/long-range air-to-air missile mounted on four semi-submerged units on the central fuselage.
Although limited to a dummy missile, installing Meteor on maiden flight is a big strategy that implies the KF-21's design to serve aerial combat beyond the horizon – beyond visual range.
Although there has been a cooperation agreement between Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and MBDA Systems for the use of Meteor missiles, the KF-21 is currently not certified as an air-to-air missile launching platform which is priced at US$2 million per unit. MBDA Missile Systems of France announced in November 2019 that it was awarded a contract to integrate Meteor, for future deployment on the KF-21.
Developed by several European countries, MBDA Systems designs and manufactures Meteor (since 2016) as a European self-sufficient solution for the medium-range air-to-air missile line, and an alternative to the hegemony AIM-120 AMRAAM produced by Raytheon, USA.
So far, the Meteor missile has been certified for launch on the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, Saab JAS 39 Gripen and in progress to the UK's F-35 Lightning II. Overview of the Meteor missile which is included in the beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) category, this missile operates by relying on a blended guidance system from inertial guidance, mid-course update via datalink, terminal active radar homing.
Active radar homing is jointly supplied by the MBDA Seeker Division and Thales Airborne Systems, and builds on their collaboration on the AD4A (Active Anti-Air Seeker) search radar system family that complements the Mica and Aster missiles.
For the warhead, the Metero missile carries a combination of proximity/impact fuse. For proximity, the active radar proximity fuze subsystem (PFS) technology is supplied by Saab Bofors Dynamics. PFS detects the target and calculates the optimal time to detonate the warhead to achieve maximum lethal effect.
In general, Meteor missiles are supported by a throttleable ducted rocket (ramjet). The firing range of this missile reaches 100 km with a No Escape Zone of 60 km. The speed for pursuing targets is equivalent to the AIM-120D AMRAAM, which is Mach 4.
From the specifications, the Meteor missile weighs 190 kg, length 3.65 meters and diameter 0.178 meters. If South Korea becomes the operator of Meteor, then currently Meteor missiles are recorded to have been used by Brazil, Britain, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Qatar, Spain and Sweden.
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