The first jettison trial of a METEOR missile from an F-35B’s internal weapons bay took place in the United States on 7 October. It marks a milestone in the missile’s integration with the F-35.
Jettison tests assess whether a missile separates cleanly and safely from an aircraft in normal conditions or during an emergency abort. They check that the weapon does not strike the fuselage or wing structures or disrupt the aircraft’s flight dynamics.
The trial demonstrated safe separation in a complex aerodynamic environment and generated data to refine digital models used to predict weapon-release characteristics.
Over the coming months, METEOR will undergo further release-profile trials to validate safe separation across the F-35’s operational envelope. These developmental tests are expected to lead to live firings to assess separation and the missile’s flight after release under varying conditions.
The test missile was prepared and loaded by a combined UK-US F-35 ITF team that included personnel from the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and Lockheed Martin.
The sortie was flown by a Royal Navy F-35 test pilot assigned to the Air and Space Warfare Centre. The project also received support from the UK Ministry of Defence, the US Department of Defense, Italy’s Ministry of Defence, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, MBDA and Northrop Grumman.
MBDA said the integration work contributes to the advancement of the UK’s and Italy’s Combat Air capability, expanding air-to-air weapon options.
