Two Rafale, from the French Air Force and the French Navy, carried out the first two test shots of the Meteor long-range air-to-air missile on 13 February 2019.

The French defence ministry ministry announced that two Rafale participated on February 13, 2019 in the first two experimental shots of the missile Meteor. It was a Rafale piloted by personnel from the Air Force, Center of Expertise (CEAM) and a Rafale Marine with a pilot from the Center for Practical Experiments. Naval Aeronautics (CEPA / 10S) of the French Navy. Both aircraft took off from Cazaux air base. The first shot took place in the early afternoon and the second in the evening, at night.

The statement said that “these shots were achieved thanks to the implementation by the DGA (Direction Générale de l'Armement ), the test device, including security, instrumentation, implementation of targets, and the return of the shots, since its launch. site located on the island of Levant off Hyères, in the Var “.

The Meteor is a long-range air-to-air missile developed and produced by MBDA. Thales, Roxel and Saab also participate in the program.

The Meteor is equipped with a ramjet to regulate its speed and fly a long distance. Its maximum range has not been officially unveiled but would be about a hundred kilometres. However, the range of the missile may vary depending on the shooting conditions and the context of the engagement.

The Meteor has been integrated on the Swedish Gripen, the British Typhoon and on the Dassault Hunter in its F3R standard. Which was qualified at the end of 2018. It was also commissioned by Germany and Spain for their Typhoon. The Meteor will also be integrated on British F-35Bs.

The missile had already been the subject of several flights and shots of tests and qualification carried out by the DGA. These allowed to validate the proper functioning of the weapon, its integration on the Rafale and missile performance vis-à-vis the contract with the manufacturer. The experiments are carried out by the forces, once the system has been received. They make it possible to check the performance of the weapon in operational scenarios and to determine the doctrine of use of the new equipment.