Successful Meteor missile firings with Gripen completed
An important stage in the Meteor missile programme was reached
today when the second Air Launched Demonstration (ALD) firing took
place.
6/20/2006 | This successfully continued the first Meteor firing
campaign with a Gripen fighter aircraft at the FMV Vidsel test
range in northern Sweden.
The successful ALD-firings with Gripen, demonstrates that Saab is
fully committed to deliver both knowledge and expertise in aircraft
integration and advanced flight testing for the development of
future air dominance capabilities for Europes new generation
combat aircraft systems, says Lennart Sindahl, Senior Vice
President and General Manager of Saab Aerosystems.
In 2001, Swedish authorities signed an international agreement to
provide the Gripen new generation fighter aircraft as a test
platform for testing the high-tech Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor
missile.
The Meteor programme is an international cooperation between
leading aerospace companies in Europe. The Meteor programme is
being led by MBDA, in partnership with Saab Bofors Dynamics, and
Spains INMIZE. Todays successful firing demonstrates that Saab is
playing an important role in future European defence development
programmes.
Saab has fully met the requirements for reaching these important
firings for the Meteor programme. It has been very interesting and
a challenge for all of us to be a part of this international
collaboration. I am proud to say that Saab has proven to be a
reliable and capable partner for the integration of complex future
missile systems, says Thomas Hellström, Project Manager Meteor at
Saab Aerosystems.
Meteor was rail-launched from Gripen at an altitude of 23,000 ft.
The missile successfully transitioned to its operation according to
plan and all the objectives have been fulfilled, said Magnus
Ljungdahl, Gripen Test Pilot at Saab Aerosystems.
Several important flight test campaigns will be performed with
Meteor on the Gripen combat aircraft during 2006 and onwards.
Saab is one of the worlds leading high-technology companies, with
its main operations focusing on defence, aviation and space. The
group covers a broad spectrum of competence and capabilities in
systems integration.
http://www.gripen.com/en/MediaRelations/News/2006/060620_meteor.htm
