Aircraft

Alenia Aeronautica is performing flutter tests with a Eurofighter Typhoon equipped with MBDA’s Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile at speeds of up to Mach 1.8.

The tests, aimed at acquiring technical data to assist European missile house MBDA with its Meteor development programme, are being performed using the second instrumented production Eurofighter, IPA02. The aircraft is carrying a pair of Meteors mounted on its wing pylons.

The Eurofighter flutter tests were performed at speeds of up to Mach 1.8

An artist's impression of the Meteor missile test firings

The flights, from Alenia Aeronautica’s test centres in Turin and Decimomannu, Sardinia, are testing flight characteristics at both subsonic and supersonic speeds up to Mach 1.8.

Meanwhile UK defence technology specialist Qinetiq has won a £5.5 million ($10.9 million) contract from the UK Ministry of Defence to carry out test firings of the Meteor using a pair of Panavia Tornado F3s.

The Tornado will serve as the platform for these tests after it emerged that a Eurofighter Typhoon may not be available to support the missile development trials in time to meet the UK’s deployment deadline.

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