In what constitutes a new delay for the project, the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the integration of MBDA’s Meteor BVR missiles into the Royal Air Force’s stealth F-35B fighters will not be achieved by 2027 as originally planned, but rather at the beginning of the next decade. This update was revealed by Minister of State for Defence Maria Eagle in a written response to a parliamentary inquiry on the missile’s integration timeline, submitted by Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty.
It is worth recalling that this is not the first time the project’s completion dates have shifted. Previous governments had aimed to complete Meteor integration by the middle of this decade, later postponing the target to 2027 as a more realistic goal. In addition, local media have reported that the delays are not limited to the Meteor missile alone, but also affect the future Spear 3 missiles, which are now expected to be integrated into RAF F-35Bs only by the 2030s.
However, it’s also important to note that these issues were anticipated by the UK defence ministry as part of the program’s known risks. This was reflected in the 2021 Defence Equipment Plan, which stated: “It is not expected to enter service until 2027 and there is a possibility that integration pressures in the programme may cause further delays due to the challenges of the F-35 programme as a whole.”
In that light, British analysts seem to agree that the issue cannot be directly blamed on any recent UK government, since the integration of the Meteor missile is primarily managed by the US-led Joint Program Office (JPO) for the F-35, along with the aircraft’s manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which is also facing its own challenges in producing and upgrading the fifth-generation fighter.
Despite the setbacks, it is important to highlight that the programme has made some progress. As reported in March, a US Marine Corps F-35B conducted its first test flight carrying an inert Meteor missile in its internal weapons bay, allowing data to be gathered on the aircraft’s performance while carrying the weapon. These tests were carried out at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, with support from Defence Equipment & Support, MBDA, and Lockheed Martin.
*Images used for illustrative purposes only.
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