Rafael demos Spike LR from JLTV

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has demonstrated a live-fire targeted launch of the Spike weapon system from an Oshkosh-supplied 4×4 Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).

The demonstration firing, conducted during the 16th Spike Users Club Meeting (SUCM) in Slovenia from 4–6 June, was the first time that a Spike capability has been fired from the JLTV platform.

The SUCM is an annual event jointly organised by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency and a different host user-country; the SUCM community comprises 31 countries, 18 of which are European Union and NATO members.

During the demonstration, a Spike long range (LR) – fired from a Spike vehicle-mounted missile launcher integrated with a Rafael Samson Mini MLS dual-axis gyro-stabilised remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS) mounted on a JLTV – engaged a static representative main battle-tank target at a range of 2.3 km at the Slovenian army’s firing range in Postojna, southwestern Slovenia. During the SUCM, members of the Slovenian Armed Forces also fired a tripod-mounted Spike LR from an enclosed space using imaging infrared (IIR) guidance.

A Spike LR is launched from an Oshkosh 4×4 Joint Light Tactical Vehicle during the 16th Spike Users Club Meeting in Slovenia from 4–6 June. (Rafael Advanced Defense Systems)

Spike LR is a medium-range (4 km) fire-and-forget/fire-observe-and-update, guided multipurpose missile. Weighing 13.7 kg and measuring 1.2 m in length, Spike LR is furnished with a gimballed dual-channel (IIR/charged coupled device) electro-optic guidance assembly, which includes a fibre-optic datalink, a tandem high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT)/multipurpose blast fragmentation warhead, and a solid propellent rocket motor. The LR variant can be manportable tripod-launched, or integrated with light vehicles, armoured vehicles, helicopters, and naval platforms. Furthermore, any platform already integrated with the LR is also automatically provisioned for the latest Spike LR2 variant.