The upgrading of the capabilities of our Air Force continues to give the Turks a headache, while recently the Hellenic Air Force officially announced the inclusion of the METEOR air-to-air missile, which it procured together with the Rafale fighter jets.
The topic of METEOR occupied the Turkish defense industry, which in its article entitled "Greece announced the range of the newly purchased Meteor missile", states:
"Greece has decided to procure 18 Rafale fighter jets for 2.3 billion euros under the contract signed with France in 2021.
About 300 million euros of the 2.3 billion euros payment that Greece will pay to France as part of the Rafale purchase concerns ammunition for the fighters in question.
Greece, which received its first second-hand Rafale fighter jet in July 2021, procured SCALP Cruise, Exocet Anti-Ship Missile, MICA Air-to-Air Missile and METEOR RamJet Propulsion Air-to-Air Missile .
Greece announced the range of the METEOR missile, which has very high performance due to the RamJet propulsion system.
According to information gathered from Greece's official statements, the METEOR air-to-air missile has a range of 200 kilometers, a weight of 190 kilograms, a length of 3.65 meters, a diameter of 178 millimeters and a speed of Mach 4+.
The METEOR BVRAAM with an active radar seeker has much more advanced features than the AIM-120 AMRAAM, which is the standard BVRAAM of NATO air forces.
Technical Characteristics-Numerical Data
METEOR AIM-120C7 AMRAAM
Range: 200km 70+km
Weight: 190 kg 150 kg
Length: 3.65 meters 3.7 meters
Diameter: 178mm 180mm
Speed: Mach 4+ Mach 4
Search: Active RF Active RF
The METEOR missile, which floats for a much longer time in the air due to its RamJet propulsion system, has a range almost 3 times longer than the AIM-120 missile, which is also used by the Turkish Air Force.
Under the GÖKHAN project, Turkey aims to develop a missile equivalent to the METEOR.
The disastrous RAFALE & F-16 VIPER cooperation for the Turks in the Aegean-SE Mediterranean
The Rafales further improve the balance of air power in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, as they increase the capability of the P.A. to operate at a greater range and threaten the Turkish fighters from a distance, before they are even noticed by the air force of the neighbor.
Another important point is that the Rafales will be fully interoperable with the F-16s being upgraded to the Viper, as well as the future acquisition of the F-35s.
The addition of this aircraft to the Hellenic Air Force provides it with unprecedented strategic capabilities. This is due to their extended range, which reaches 920 nautical miles (1,700 km) with full internal fuel (4,750 kg) and three external fuel tanks with a capacity of 2,000 liters each.
The Rafale's big asset, apart from its electronics, is the number of weapons it can launch, first of course being the Meteor air-to-air missile.
It is state of the art, even the French Air Force has received it in the last year and a half. It goes very far, at high speed and engages targets at multiple distances than common missiles.
The combination of upgrading the existing fleet of Greek F-16s (according to Lockheed Martin, Greece will then have the most advanced F-16s in Europe) combined with the Rafale, will give Greece a significant quality advantage and ensure the dominance of the Air Force in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
With the completion of the F-16 upgrade program to the VIPER level and the strengthened 332 Squadron "Hawk" with 24 Rafale F3Rs, the fighters that will exchange network-centric data via Link 16 and the AESA radar will total 108. A significant power with many additional assets offered by the multitude of sensors they carry.
