US Army evaluating Israel-made SPIKE SR missile, Rafael says
The demonstration was done by the company and its subsidiary in the US, Rafael Systems Global Sustainment (RSGS).
By UDI SHAHAMRafael's SPIKE SR missile.(photo credit: RAFAEL ADVANCED SYSTEMS)
Rafael Advanced Systems said on Thursday that the US Army is currently evaluating its SPIKE SR missile.The company demonstrated the missile at the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) 2021 earlier this month.The demonstration was done by the company and its subsidiary in the US, Rafael Systems Global Sustainment (RSGS).Rafael said in a statement that AEWE 2021 is assessing advanced technologies in support of US Army modernization efforts, including the Army’s six modernization priorities.“As a portable, electro-optical guided missile, designed for today’s modern infantry, SPIKE SR is especially well-suited to enhance soldier lethality, one of the six priorities,” it said.SPIKE SR, which is part of the Spike family of anti-tank guided weapons, provides a lightweight (10 kg), shoulder-fired munition, with an enhanced range of 2,000 meters, increasing lethality at the individual squad level.SPIKE SR’s features, including its ease of use, allow lower echelon infantry to rapidly qualify and sustain a high level of operation with minimal training.Rafael said that AEWE assessed SPIKE SR as a precision munition system for infantry squads, for which portability and simplicity of operation is essential. AEWE also assessed the system for its ability to allow close-combat formations to dominate the operational environment and handle new threats in a near-peer conflict.During the assessment, live SPIKE SR missiles hit both static and moving targets in day (EO) and IR modes. Challenges included overcoming battlefield obscurants that effectively eliminated the target from the field of view.During the assessment, soldiers received instruction on the operation of the weapon, including indoor and outdoor training.“US Army evaluators provided positive feedback on the system’s lightweight, lethality, and ease of use compared to what is currently in use by the US Army,” the statement said.LTG. (Ret.) Joe Anderson, president and CEO of RSGS, said: “We were greatly honored to present the advanced SPIKE SR missile system for assessment by the AEWE team. This light-weight system can greatly enhance squad-level soldier lethality, a core capability of the Army,”“AEWE was an important opportunity to demonstrate SPIKE and multiple other Rafael systems. This included Fire Weaver, our sensor-to-shooter system, and BNET, our broadband IP SDR (Software Defined Radio). These systems, combined with SPIKE SR, can provide tactical overmatch by enabling high maneuverability and lethality. The live-fire further demonstrated the effectiveness of SPIKE and provided a good opportunity for first-hand soldier feedback,” he said.
