Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) and its Bayern-Chemie joint venture with Thomson-CSF are planning to produce a working demonstrator of the German elements of the Meteor air-to-air missile by the end of 1997.
The DM20 million programme is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Defence (FMoD). According to Bayern-Chemie, there will be an exchange of data with British Meteor partner Royal Ordnance Rocket Motors Division in the run up to the deadline for best and final offers for the UK future medium-range air-to-air missile (FMRAAM).
Bayern-Chemie says that it aims to produce a full-size, boron-loaded throttleable ducted rocket (TDR) motor with a lightweight structure, to run on a connected pipe test stand. The demonstration is to include the full-boost phase transition from the missile's integrated booster to TDR-powered sustained flight, and a complete TDR burn.
The Meteor programme is led by Matra-BAe Dynamics, in partnership with Alenia, DASA, GEC-Marconi and Saab. It is competing against Hughes UK's FMRAAM bid, involving Aerospatiale, Fokker, Shorts and Thomson-Thorn.
In the third quarter of this year, Bayern-Chemie completed a second test campaign on its full-scale nozzleless booster motor, describing the results as "very encouraging". The challenge has been to develop a propellant with appropriate burn rate and low-temperature mechanical properties.
On 19 November, the company completed its latest round of tests on data transmission attenuation by the TDR's boron-rich exhaust plume, a potential problem which has been highlighted by opponents of the engine. Concerns have been voiced over datalink interference. According to Bayern-Chemie, tests have now been carried out with signals transmitted through the plume at various angles. Initial analysis of the results suggests that the attenuation problem is "much smaller than anticipated", says the company.
Source: Flight International