[XLAA] Meteor

MBDA Meteor

ORIGIN: (Real World)
Various Aviation Companies

GAMES FEATURED IN:
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
Ace Combat 05: The Unsung War
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
Ace Combat 06: Fires of Liberation

COMPATIBLE AIRCRAFT
ADF-01F FALKEN, EF-2000 Typhoon, JAS-39C Gripen

OVERVIEW:
The FMRAAM system (which has lost out to Meteor as the ABVRAAM solution) proposed by Hughes (now part of Raytheon) of the United States teamed with Shorts Missiles of Britain and Aérospatiale and Thomson-Thorn of France was a significantly enhanced variant of AMRAAM. Like the Meteor the range demands of the BVRAAM requirement resulted in FMRAAM also utilizing a ram-rocket motor. The particular motor used being Aérospatiale's liquid fueled RASCAL (Ramjet for Small Caliber) system. Other improvements over the existing AMRAAM included an upgraded and miniaturized seeker, two way data link and improved ECM resistance. In addition a number of improvements aimed at reducing the missiles RCS (note the diamond shaped classed intakes on the picture) where also introduced. During the BVRAAM contest Raytheon independently proposed a number of these upgrades to the US Air Force and Navy.

In an apparent attempt to mitigate design, production and performance issues after the issuing of the risk reduction contracts Raytheon proposed an intermediary solution missile, ERAAM (Extended Range Air to Air Missile). This system lacked the ram-rocket motor (which remained one of the major technological sticking points for BVRAAM, including Meteor) instead using a more standard (and less risky) 6" dual-burn solid rocket. This they suggested would yield an improvement over AMRAAM, offer little R&D or production risk and be available sooner than FMRAAM (the plan being to upgrade stocks of ERAAM to an FMRAAM standard at some future point as technology and money allowed).It remains unclear whether FMRAAM as originally proposed will see the light of day now Meteor has been selected by Europe. Raytheon is continuing its improvement program for AMRAAM and some of the features of ERAAM/FMRAAM may be rolled into this if funding allows.

Specification:
Length: 11ft. 6in.
Range: 55+ nm
Propulsion: Liquid RASCAL
Wingspan: Unknown
Weight: 352+ lbs.
Warhead: Type HE/Fragmentation
Guidance: Mid-Course INS/2-way Data link, Terminal Phase Active K-Band Radar

Sources:
Various Sources

Accreditation:
Kuroi Tsubasa for the image

*Original Article by TornadoADV*