- Messages
- 454
- Reactions
- Nation of residence
-
- Nation of origin
-
The Ministry of Defence will not proceed with a planned mid-life upgrade of the Meteor air-to-air missile, with investment instead directed towards the Future Air Superiority Effectors programme, the UK Defence Journal understands.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard confirmed the decision, listing it among a series of choices to move on from older systems in favour of their successors. “We’re not continuing with the midlife upgrade of the Meteor,” the minister said, with the department “investing in the new capability,” FASE, instead. “We want to invest in next generation of capabilities faster than the previous generation of capabilities.”
Meteor, developed by MBDA, is a ramjet-powered beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile in service on Royal Air Force Typhoons since 2018, with integration onto the F-35B planned under the eventual Block 4 upgrade. Its throttleable ducted rocket motor sustains thrust into the terminal phase of an engagement, giving the weapon what MBDA describes as the largest no-escape zone of any missile in its class.
FASE is intended to deliver next-generation air-to-air effectors able to engage a broad range of targets from multiple platforms, including future crewed and uncrewed aircraft. Pollard told Parliament in September last year that the programme was in its pre-concept phase, with work under way to establish a concept phase. The decision also follows the memorandum of understanding signed by the UK and France on 1 April to conduct a 12-month joint study into a Meteor successor, a deliverable of the Lancaster House 2.0 treaty that will assess the future threat environment, identify candidate technologies and set a development roadmap, overseen by a new joint Complex Weapons Portfolio Office.
The minister drew a direct parallel with Storm Shadow, where the plan similarly declines to restart production of the existing weapon in favour of its replacement. “Storm Shadow’s an incredible missile that has delivered exceptional service,” Pollard said, but the department needed to step up to bigger capabilities delivered by the next generation. The Defence Investment Plan allocates £1.4 billion over the next four years to MBDA’s Stratus family of cruise and anti-ship missiles, being developed with France and Italy as the Storm Shadow successor.
The Meteor decision sits alongside other retirements set out in the same answer, including the withdrawal of the Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft, a decision not to proceed with the Skynet 6 narrowband satellite, and the retirement of 34 Wildcat battlefield reconnaissance helicopters from 2027, with uncrewed systems taking on the forward reconnaissance role. An MOD official told the briefing that too much of the munitions budget had been going on “high end complex munitions, very capable but low numbers,” and that the plan rebalances spending towards weapons that can be produced quickly and at scale, restarting UK production lines for CAMM, ASRAAM and the Stingray torpedo alongside sovereign manufacture of energetics and explosives.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard confirmed the decision, listing it among a series of choices to move on from older systems in favour of their successors. “We’re not continuing with the midlife upgrade of the Meteor,” the minister said, with the department “investing in the new capability,” FASE, instead. “We want to invest in next generation of capabilities faster than the previous generation of capabilities.”
Meteor, developed by MBDA, is a ramjet-powered beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile in service on Royal Air Force Typhoons since 2018, with integration onto the F-35B planned under the eventual Block 4 upgrade. Its throttleable ducted rocket motor sustains thrust into the terminal phase of an engagement, giving the weapon what MBDA describes as the largest no-escape zone of any missile in its class.
FASE is intended to deliver next-generation air-to-air effectors able to engage a broad range of targets from multiple platforms, including future crewed and uncrewed aircraft. Pollard told Parliament in September last year that the programme was in its pre-concept phase, with work under way to establish a concept phase. The decision also follows the memorandum of understanding signed by the UK and France on 1 April to conduct a 12-month joint study into a Meteor successor, a deliverable of the Lancaster House 2.0 treaty that will assess the future threat environment, identify candidate technologies and set a development roadmap, overseen by a new joint Complex Weapons Portfolio Office.
The minister drew a direct parallel with Storm Shadow, where the plan similarly declines to restart production of the existing weapon in favour of its replacement. “Storm Shadow’s an incredible missile that has delivered exceptional service,” Pollard said, but the department needed to step up to bigger capabilities delivered by the next generation. The Defence Investment Plan allocates £1.4 billion over the next four years to MBDA’s Stratus family of cruise and anti-ship missiles, being developed with France and Italy as the Storm Shadow successor.
The Meteor decision sits alongside other retirements set out in the same answer, including the withdrawal of the Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft, a decision not to proceed with the Skynet 6 narrowband satellite, and the retirement of 34 Wildcat battlefield reconnaissance helicopters from 2027, with uncrewed systems taking on the forward reconnaissance role. An MOD official told the briefing that too much of the munitions budget had been going on “high end complex munitions, very capable but low numbers,” and that the plan rebalances spending towards weapons that can be produced quickly and at scale, restarting UK production lines for CAMM, ASRAAM and the Stingray torpedo alongside sovereign manufacture of energetics and explosives.
UK axes Meteor upgrade in favour of new FASE missile
The MOD has dropped the planned Meteor mid-life upgrade, shifting investment to the Future Air Superiority Effectors programme.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk
