On the image just before the impact we can see TTI - time to impact which is still not present on our rafales in game btw.
And, the bomb is also flagged like a friendly IFF mark which is interesting
This is an abysmal take, it’s been proven to cruise from Mach 4.5-5, this puts it in the realms of R37M and R-33, AMRAAM and MICA wouldn’t even compare in terms of Time to target since METEOR will cruise at this speed for tens of seconds before then gliding
It uses a ramjet. The optimal operational speed for ramjet is anywhere from Mach 4 to Mach 5 approximately.
Following the brochure below, comparing probably to the AMRAAM, maybe MICA (doesn’t really state what missile the meteor is compared to), it would probably put the Meteor at roughly Mach 4 cruising speed, maybe a bit lower, not Mach 4.5 (with MICA having a peak speed of Mach 4.5, the AMRAAM right around Mach 4, and their peak speed being higher than the meteor)
Tho, with its speed being on average much higher than normal AMRAAM, you can expect the time to target above say 30km to be much better than regular AMRAAM, and probably still similar to long range missiles like the PL15 and AIM260 at their max range
so,… 2022 and 2024, not 2025
but still not active.
apart that: Germany doesn’t need to buy F-35 to get AIM-120D already, but it seems that they never ordered AIM-120D, and sticked to the AIM-120C-8 variants,… and that there is only studies for the AIM-120D-3 procurement alongside F-35’s
they may have been ordered between september and now,…
but no contracts are final until they got delivered.
In september 2025, Germany only recieved a favorable information from the US Governement DSCA approval, to the LOA, notifying the US Congress to vote over this intended command of 400 AIM-120D-3.
but i don’t see any US Congress approval for Germany, so process is still incomplete,… and it’s still an “Intent to buy”
So germany still not have AIM-120D-3 in service today. (only the AIM-120C-8 they’ve got previously)
I had seen a paper at some point, although I can’t find it. Maybe I misremembered or it could be dependent on the geometry of the engine…
Since I can’t find it (and it wasn’t related to missiles per say), it’s probably better to assume Mach 3.5 cruise indeed for the Meteor, especially since @naruto24k is also right in point out it’s closer to Mach 3-3.5 (if it’s compared to Aim120. If compared to MICA, which is also produced by MBDA, so this could be argued, it’d probably be in the upper Mach 3.5 area)