France Orders 200 Air-to-air Missile to Equip Rafale

2011-01-04 01:19:17 Xinhua Web Editor: Jiang

France has ordered 200 air-to-air Meteor missiles to equip its Rafale fighters serving in the air force and navy, the defense ministry said on Monday in a statement.

Defense Minister Alain Juppe welcomed the order of the long- range missile designed for French jet Rafale under the cooperation between France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain and Britain, according to the ministry.

The French General Direction for Ordnance (DGA) has awarded the order to multinational missile producer MBDA.

"The first Meteor missile will be delivered to the French Air Force in 2018," the statement said.

The Meteor missile, to be designed with a ramjet, can " intercept targets at ranges of several tens of kilometers," the statement added.

With over 9,750 employees in Europe and the United States, the stake of MBDA group is shared by Britain's BAE System (37.5 percent), European EADS (37.5 percent) and Italy's Finmeccanica ( 25 percent).

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