Air Weapons: May 18, 2002

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European partners fear that the Germans will bail out of the Meteor active-radar air-to-air missile, causing the program to collapse. The British, who have pushed Meteor as an alternative to the American AMRAAM, are using language like "long term damage to relations". Germany plans to buy six hundred new Taurus KEPD-350 stand-off missiles to arm its Tornado strike fighters. These missiles have an official range of 350 kilometers (219 miles) but their actual range is reportedly "considerably greater".--Stephen V Cole