Singapore Airshow 2022: Israeli-Singapore teaming touts Blue Spear missile's capabilities for congested waterways

A model of the Blue Spear missile at Singapore Airshow 2022. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)

A joint-venture teaming between Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and ST Engineering is positioning the Blue Spear missile as a suitable surface-to-surface weapon for congested waterways, similar to those found across the Asia-Pacific region.

A mock-up of the missile was unveiled for the first time at Singapore Airshow 2022. The ‘fifth-generation' weapon is being marketed by Proteus Advanced Systems: the joint venture entity that has been established between IAI and ST Engineering.

Speaking to Janes at the event, a representative from ST Engineering describes the Blue Spear as a weapon that combines the maritime systems expertise of the Singapore company with the advanced missile systems pedigree of its Israeli counterpart. The weapon derives its heritage from the Gabriel family of sea-skimming anti-ship missiles that was developed by IAI in the 1960s and deployed by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) in the 1970s.

The Blue Spear missile has a range of about 290 km and has beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) strike capabilities against targets at sea and on land. The weapon's radar seeker, guidance system, and payload system has been incorporated within a hardened casing to improve its survivability against close-in weapon systems.

Besides congested waterways, the Blue Spear is also able to locate and track both static and dynamic targets in the open-sea and overland environments. The system can be supplied in either a vessel-launched configuration or a land-based launch vehicle setup, said the ST Engineering representative.