Fielding of the rocket/ramjet-powered Meteor air-to-air missile on the Eurofighter Typhoon is being pushed back two years. The move is part of a wider rescoping of weapon-integration plans. Under what is known as Change Requirement 270, the four Eurofighter partner nations-Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain-are trying to negotiate a revised integration strategy for the MBDA Meteor. Aligning weapon and aircraft development has proved challenging almost from the outset of the program. The U.K. is the lead partner for the six-nation Meteor missile. It had intended to introduce the missile in 2013, although this date was in itself a shift from the previous in-service date (ISD) of 2012. The delay came to light following this cryptic comment from the Defense Ministry: "When the missile is integrated on Typhoon is being deferred until a time in keeping more with when the threat may materialize."
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