MBDA: The Key Missile Supplier of Eurofighter Combat Aircraft

With the prospect of the Turkish Air Force flying the Eurofighter, what are the weapon systems that Turkish pilots may use on this potent combat aircraft? The core of these weapons come from MBDA, one of the world’s leading missile manufacturers.

At its core, the Eurofighter is an air dominance aircraft designed to fly fast and high while packing a serious set of air combat weaponry to defeat other fighters. The most famous of these weapons is the Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, which is widely recognised as a game changer for air combat. Meteor gives Eurofighter pilots the ability to highly effectively engage other fighters at ranges where the enemy will struggle to hit back.

Traditional rocket powered missiles are only powered at launch and so fly like bullets, losing speed and the ability to manoeuvre as they travel – a factor that significantly reduces their effectiveness at long ranges. Meteor is however powered by a unique rocket-ramjet motor. This ramjet provides power all the way until Meteor hits its target, meaning that Meteor can fly faster, fly longer, and manoeuvre more than any other missile. This gives Meteor the ability to chase down and destroy agile hostile fighters at even the furthest of ranges. 

Meteor is also equipped with a two-way datalink that allows a Eurofighter to provide target updates to the missile, and the Meteor to provide data back to the Eurofighter, significantly enhancing the likelihood of a kill and maximising situational awareness for the pilot. As a result of these key sub-systems, Meteor has a no-escape zone many times greater than any other air-to-air missile.

Also arming Eurofighter is MBDA’s ASRAAM air dominance missile. ASRAAM is a highly manoeuvrable dogfighting missile designed by MBDA to dominate within visual range air combat. This infrared guided missile was created to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile and has been designed around a philosophy of ensuring the first strike, which is vital for ensuring victory in modern air combat. 

This philosophy means ASRAAM has a very fast reaction speed, flying off the aircraft quicker than any other missile. With a rocket motor 70% more powerful than comparable missiles, ASRAAM is the world’s fastest dogfighting missile. With this unrivalled speed also comes long range and very high aerodynamic manoeuvrability. ASRAAM has recently gone through an extensive modernisation, updating the missile to ensure it continues to dominate the close air combat fight.

The combination of ASRAAM’s exceptionally fast within-visual range performance and Meteor’s unmatched beyond visual range capabilities pair to give Eurofighter an exceptional ability to dominate all forms of air-to-air combat. 

The ability to deliver precision strike against high value targets such as well protected control bunkers/centres, key infrastructures and military installations from a safe stand-off distance is crucial in the early days of a conflict. Equipping Eurofighter for such deep strike missions is the Storm Shadow long range conventionally armed cruise missile. 

The Storm Shadow missile has proved its unerring and unmatched ability to combine very long range with devastating target effect during recent combat operations. It achieves its effectiveness through a low-observable airframe and the ability to avoid air defences thanks to its complex mission planning system and long range. It features a highly accurate navigation system combining GPS, INS and terrain referencing, plus exceptional target precision thanks to its imaging seeker featuring automatic target recognition. Target destruction is assured through a tandem warhead, featuring a precursor charge to defeat reinforced structures and a follow-through bomb to destroy the main target.

For close air support and anti-armour missions, Eurofighter is the only fast jet currently able to carry the Brimstone missile, providing a Eurofighter pilot with the unique capability of engaging a wide range of target types, including fast moving vehicles, vessels in both land and naval environments as well as in direct and indirect modes.

Brimstone is widely acknowledged as a highly effective and reliable air-to-ground missile in the 50 kg class and is the only missile of its class that can be carried by fighter aircraft. The state-of-the art missile offers the largest operational added value for the Eurofighter Typhoon due to its outstanding performance against static, mobile and manoeuvring targets. This performance comes from Brimstone’s high-performance dual-mode seeker featuring might have had radar for all-weather autonomous target recognition, and a semi-active laser for operator in the loop engagement, combined with a very potent tandem shape charged warhead able to easily defeat even the best armoured tanks