UK commences SPEAR 3 launch trials

An RAF Eurofighter Typhoon test aircraft launched a SPEAR 3 missile for the first time on 17 November. The missile will be fielded operationally by the F-35B. (Crown Copyright)

The United Kingdom has commenced launch trials of the MBDA Selective Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) 3 precision-strike missile, with the Royal Air Force (RAF) announcing the first launch on 17 November.

The milestone saw an inert SPEAR 3 missile launched from a UK RAF Eurofighter Typhoon test aircraft over Vidsel range in northern Sweden.

“This most recent trial was the first time the weapons system had been launched from an aircraft, signifying a major leap forward in the programmes development,” the RAF said. “The trial itself, which did not carry a live warhead, demonstrated the release, gather, and long-range free-flight control of the missile following a high-altitude and high-speed release.”

MBDA's SPEAR 3 is a turbojet-powered mini-cruise missile, which employs GPS/inertial mid-course navigation, a two-way datalink (enabling mid-course updates, re-targeting, and mission abort functions), and a dual-mode seeker (millimetric waveband radar and semi-active laser) for terminal homing. It has a published range of 100 km, and is designed to be used against mobile, relocatable, defended, or challenging targets. It will have particular utility for the suppression of enemy air defences/destruction of enemy air defences (SEAD/DEAD) role.

Although launched from a Typhoon test aircraft, the SPEAR 3 will be carried by the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning in UK operational service. The missile is sized for a four-round loadout in each of the F-35B's two internal weapons bays for a total loadout of eight missiles. A stand-in jammer variant, known as the SPEAR-EW (electronic warfare), is also in development.