Two Meteor live-fire tests were conducted as part of the BVR-X Technical Exercise in the Natal region.
The Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira – FAB) announced a major milestone on Nov. 29, 2025, conducting its first Meteor BVRAAM (Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile) live fire from an F-39E (Brazilian designation for the Saab JAS39 Gripen E).
The “BVR-X Technical Exercise (EXTEC) test campaign, believed to have taken place earlier this month in the Natal region, involved four Gripen Es which conducted two live-firings against Leonardo’s maneuverable Mirach 100/5 aerial targets, in.” The Gripen E is the most advanced variant of Gripen.
The Air Force and Navy employed AEW&C assets, aggressors, and patrol aircraft, and, together with other government research agencies providing testing support, recreated real-world conditions to “practice all the operational procedures as in aerial combat.” This suggests that the first live test of the Meteor from a Gripen E involved a standard tactical BVR combat scenario.
— Força Aérea Brasileira 🇧🇷 (@fab_oficial) November 29, 2025
The test also comes after the FAB recently cleared its Gripen E to be refueled by the Embraer KC-390 Millenium in a massive testing campaign between October and November, the results of which too will benefit both current and future users of the Gripen E and C-390 like like Sweden, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Hungary.
The test
The test was executed and overseen by the First Air Defense Group (1st GDA Jaguar) and Anapolis Logistics Group (GLOG-AN). Images showed one of the Gripens carrying the Meteor BVRAAM on its port-side wing’s inner hardpoint.
The images released also showed the preparations on the ground, the launch as seen both from inside the cockpit and the chase aircraft, and the release of the drones. The impact, however, was not shown. The jets took off from Natal Air Base.
Including the four Gripens, a total of ten aircraft supported the test. These included the AMX A-1M from the First Squadron of the Tenth Aviation Group (1st/10th GAV) – Poker Squadron acting as the aggressor; an E-99 AEW&C aircraft from the Second Squadron of the Sixth Aviation Group (2º/6º GAV) “Guardian Squadron”; A-29 Super Tucano aircraft of the 2º/5º GAV “Joker Squadron”; a P-3AM maritime patrol aircraft from the First Squadron of the 1st/7th GAV “Orungan Squadron”; the P-95BM aircraft from the 3rd/7th GAV “Neptune Squadron”; and an H-36 Caracal helicopter for search and rescue from the 1st/8th GAV “Falcon Squadron”.
The Mirach 100/5 targets were launched and their telemetries monitored from the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center (CLBI), for vital “accurate data collection.” The drones simulated “high-speed, high-altitude fighter flight profiles, ensuring a challenging scenario to evaluate the missile’s accuracy.”
Multiple other defense and civilian agencies supported the test. Major Aviator Gregor Gaspar of the 1st GDA said that “several training exercises with the Meteor” were flown with technical help from Saab and MBDA, suggesting captive carry trials might also have been conducted.
The FAB’s X post said: “In a challenging scenario with complex firing profiles, the most advanced aircraft and weaponry in the FAB’s arsenal significantly expanded the country’s deterrent power and defensive capabilities. In November, the F-39E successfully fired the Meteor missile against high-performance, maneuverable aerial targets. This test consolidates Brazil’s position among the select group of nations with next-generation BVR (Beyond Visual Range) capability.”
Defense diplomatic impact
The test will significantly raise the Gripen’s profile among Gen. 4.5 aircraft, especially in the single engine lightweight aircraft category, following its first combat use against Cambodian targets by the Royal Thai Air Force. It also provides developer country Sweden, which itself received its first Gripen E on Oct. 20, 2025, with vital data on both the Gripen and Meteor.
The Flygvapnet Gripens, while intercepting Russian aircraft in NATO’s Air Policing missions over the Baltics, usually carry IRIS-T short-range AAMs.
The Gripen E’s future users, Colombia and Thailand, will also benefit from the integration and live-fire testing campaign. They will acquire 15 and 12 Gripen E/Fs respectively, with Thailand already being an existing user of 12 older Gripen C/D aircraft.
While the weapons package in Bangkok’s Gripen’s purchase included the Meteor, there are hints that Colombia too will acquire the missile since the Meteor was among the several air-to-air and air-to-ground ordnance displayed at a full-sized mock-up of the fighter during the PISTA23 exhibition.
Brazil’s 2014 $4.5 billion Gripen deal for 36 aircraft included 28 F-39Es and eight F-39F twin-seater jets. Fifteen of the jets are to be manufactured within Brazil, at Embraer’s and Saab’s facilities.
The FAB received aboard a ship the tenth airframe on Jun. 12, 2025, which is set to join the First Air Defense Group (1º GDA) “Jaguar Squadron” at Anápolis Air Base, as per Brazilian reports.
Meteor BVRAAM
Developed by MBDA for the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden, the Meteor has currently been integrated on the Typhoon, Gripen and Rafale and is being integrated on the F-35 and the KF-21. In fact, the South Korean fighter is scheduled to be equipped with two European air-to-air missiles, Meteor and IRIS-T.
The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) early in May announced the conclusion of the second phase of the Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) campaign of its F-2000A (Italian MoD designation for the Eurofighter Typhoon) with the Meteor. Italy is also sponsoring the Meteor’s integration with the F-35A.
The UK is currently leading the integration campaign for the F-35B at the F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF), with the first flight of the Lightning II equipped with Meteor taking place in February 2025.
Meteoric success! Nothing dominates the skies like the #Meteor missile.
Recognising this, the Republic of Korea partnered with us to integrate Meteor on the new KAI KF-21 fighter aircraft.
🔗 Learn more: https://t.co/d8inxInf51 pic.twitter.com/JjWjYPuKkk
— MBDA (@MBDAGroup) December 9, 2024
The Meteor has a range reported between 120 and 200 km, and is powered by an airbreathing Solid Fuel Ramjet. Unlike a standard rocket motor, like the one used by the AIM-120 AMRAAM, the ramjet is throttleable, allowing it to regulate its thrust output during cruise, chase and terminal modes, exploiting the aerodynamics of each flight stage.
This allows the weapon to obtain the highest possible energy state during the terminal phase, conserve energy and avoid overshooting when chasing a hard maneuvering target. This way, Meteor has a larger No-Escape Zone, and increases its kill probability.
A two-way datalink allows mid-course updates and target retasking from the launching aircraft, as well as mid-course updates by other friendly assets, MBDA’s Regional Sales Executive for Brazil Ricardo Mantovani said in the press release. The missile is equipped with both impact and proximity fuses and a fragmentation warhead to maximize the lethality.
