The war in Ukraine has dramatically affected the interest in the Israeli family of anti tank missiles – Spike made by Rafael. The interest is now shared by countries in South America.
Israeli defence company Rafael has through the years developed some “best sellers” that are used by a long list of armies around the world. One of these is the Family of Spike missiles .The different variants of this missile are ne in operational use in 45 countries. These have purchased over 80.000 missiles so far and negotiations are underway with some new potential customers.
The big success was behind the decision to form EuroSpike, a joint venture between Rafael , Diehl Defense, Rheimetall that is in charge of selling the Israeli made missiles to European customers , training the troops and maintaining the arsenal.
The Spike family of missiles includes the following variants – SR with a range of 2 km, LR2 with a range of 5.5 km , ER 2 with a range of 10 km and the NLOS with a range of 30 km.
These capabilities enhance infantry crew survivability when facing today’s modern tank threat that includes better armor, greater standoff ranges and advanced optics, which place ATGM units at risk. With its very low signature and single-soldier operation, SPIKE SR enables forces to shoot-and-scoot without exposing their location. This is a crucial capability for both high intensity conflict, when facing an armored invasion, as well as in hybrid warfare, when proxy armored forces operate to hold ground.
According to the Rafael senior official Lithuania also selected the LR variant of the Spike.
Rafael has also adapted its family of Spike missiles for deployment on navy ships. A small patrol boat can be armed for example with a simple mount holding a launcher carrying 4 Spike ER 2 .
The system can be integrated with the ship’s existing assets to address targets that have been acquired by other sensors. Furthermore, the missile mount is compatible with a variety of platforms, ranging from Rigid Hull Inflated Boats (RHIBs) to medium-size and larger vessels
The system according to Rafael enables very fast sensor-to-shooter loop closure in day/night defensive and offensive scenarios, thereby ensuring mission success with surgical precision.
According to the Israeli company, the Naval SPIKE ER’s operational flexibility is reflected in the ability to address challenging naval scenarios under adverse environmental conditions.
Even after missile launch, the gunner can toggle between targets and actively direct the missile to an optimized hit point. While in flight, the missile provides valuable intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA), for the follow-on attack of additional targets.
The system’s high-precision engagement capability ensures minimum collateral damage. In case of friendly force presence, the operator can abort the mission with the missile in-flight
Rafael says that the Naval SPIKE ER missile can be provided with either High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) or Penetration Blast Fragmentation (PBF) warheads.
Rafael says that even the NLOS version with the longest range can be installed on different vessels.
Effective in both offensive and defensive naval scenarios, this compact system enables stand-off ,sea-to-shore fire support or sea-to-sea targeting, on a wide range of naval platforms.
Providing maximum operational flexibility, the Naval SPIKE NLOS allows real-time tactical intelligence gathering, in-flight target switching, and mission abort, according to the scenario.
Effective in low-intensity asymmetric engagements, high-intensity anti-armor conflicts, and stand-off combat, the system can be supplied with a variety of warheads including High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), Penetration Blast Fragmentation (PBF) with warhead detonation control, and Fragmentation.
The system is equipped with a passive dual-mode E-O seeker, an Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) camera, advanced image processing tracker, and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) which enable its day/night capabilities.
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