A US Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighter has conducted the first test flights by the type carrying a Meteor beyond-visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM), the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) announced on 28 February 2025.
The first such flight was conducted on 20 November 2024 out of Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland using F-35B BF-18 piloted by a Royal Navy pilot: Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Baker.
An inert Meteor missile was used during the test flights to gather environmental data as part of the campaign to integrate UK weapons onto the F-35.
As described by the RAF, the test flights made possible due to collaboration between the UK and US governments as well as organisations including the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment & Support and industrial partners Lockheed Martin and MBDA, which manufacture the F-35 and Meteor missile respectively.
“This milestone is a testament to the effective collaboration between the multinational governmental and industrial partnerships that we have in place,” Air Commodore Al Roberts, the RAF’s head of air-to-air missiles, was quoted as saying. “Inclusion of Meteor onto the Lightning II will bring this formidable air combat capability to the UK and to the burgeoning F-35 community, significantly enhancing security among allies.”
The Meteor BVRAAM, which is already integrated onto the RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoons, is the UK’s primary air-to-air missile. It is active radar guided and propelled by a solid-fuel ramjet motor all the way to its target, whereas the US-produced AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) accelerates much faster than a Meteor but then only glides in its terminal phase. The Meteor’s capability for powered manoeuvring throughout its range of flight affords it a large ‘no escape’ zone when closing onto its target. Although the maximum range of the Meteor has not been officially cited by MBDA, it is believed to be around 200 km (compared to a reported range of up to 180 km for the latest AIM-120D AMRAAM).
While the UK is leading the Meteor integration campaign for the short take-off/vertical landing F-35B, which is the only JSF type that it operates, Italy is sponsoring the missile’s integration onto the conventional take-off and landing F-35A, given that the Italian Air Force has a programme of record for 60 F-35As and 30 F-35Bs.
