France Test Fires Meteor Air-to-air Missiles Onboard Rafale Fighter Jet

The French Ministry of Defense and Dassault test fired two Meteor missiles from a Rafale aircraft last week.

On Wednesday, 13 February, at 13:30, a patrol composed of two Rafale fighters took off from the air base of Cazaux (Gironde) to fire a first Meteor missile, the French MoD said in a statement last Thursday.

The aircraft were implemented and piloted by personnel from the Air Force Assessment Center (CEAM) and the Naval Airborne Practical Experiments Center (CEPA / 10S) of the Navy in close collaboration with the Directorate-General Armed Forces (DGA).

Intended for air superiority missions, the METEOR air-to-air missile is powered by a ramjet engine and is capable of intercepting very long-range targets.