Regno Unito e Francia iniziano a lavorare sul missile successore del Meteor

>**The United Kingdom and France have signed an agreement to begin studying a next-generation air-to-air missile to succeed Meteor, one of Europe’s most advanced beyond-visual-range weapons.**

>The Memorandum of Understanding commits both nations to a 12-month joint study examining future air combat threats and the technologies required to maintain air superiority in the decades ahead, according to the UK government.

>The work will explore new missile concepts and set out a potential development roadmap, forming part of wider efforts under the Lancaster House 2.0 treaty to deepen defence cooperation between the two countries.

>“In a new era of threat we are increasing co-operation with our friends and allies,” said Defence Minister Luke Pollard. “This agreement is a significant step forward… demonstrating the strength of our UK-France defence partnership.”

>Meteor, which entered service in 2016, is currently operated by six European nations and is in frontline use with the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon and the French Air Force’s Rafale. Developed through multinational collaboration, it is widely regarded as a benchmark for long-range air-to-air missile performance.

>The new study is intended to build on that model, with an emphasis on aligning industrial effort and avoiding duplication across European defence programmes.

>“We are strengthening NATO’s capabilities and European security by working with France on the next generation of air-to-air missiles,” Pollard added.

>The initiative also forms part of a revived “Entente Industrielle” between the UK and France, aimed at improving efficiency in complex weapons development and strengthening NATO’s edge in high-end air combat.

>As part of this effort, a joint Complex Weapons Portfolio Office will be established to coordinate missile programmes and align national priorities, while also opening the door to wider participation from partner nations.

I love how the UK and France used to be mortal enemies many moons ago, and now we work together like good friends, who have each others back

They start to begin the study. Let us know when new missile is flying in the sky and reaching the targets.

This is an interesting one because the F-35 becomes the potential limiter.  It’s internal bay will set an upper bound on size and the MTOW will set the upper bound on weight if they want to carry a substantial load with it.  We have Chinese and US development leading into pretty big missiles to have enough range and end phase energy.  

We are watching with great interest.

Good luck on the missile.