Spike NLOS gains popularity among helicopter operators
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
An unnamed customer of the Agusta Westland AW 159 helicopter selected the Spike NLOS Israeli-made missile.
Recently, missile system was selected for another helicopter as well.
Sources at the manufacturing company told i-HLS that many armed forces worldwide are after the missile because of its cost effectiveness and the fact that it can be launched from both the ground and from the air.
The developer, Rafael, has teamed with Airbus Helicopters and Agusta Westland to offer the Spike missile system as an integral part of the weapon system carried by their helicopters.
Agusta Westland is currently offering its AW 159 helicopter armed with the Rafael Spike NLOS missile. This helicopter was purchased by South Korea and the Israeli missile is its main weapon system.
The missile system is also carried by the Airbus Tiger Helicopters that are used by the Spanish army.
The Colombian army’s Arpia-4 (Blackhawk) is armed with all the other missiles in the Spike ’family’ – the ER, LR and NLOS.
Currently, the Airbus Helicopters AS-550 Fennec is being offered with the Spike missiles.
Rafael is now offering its Spike missiles with all three current contenders in the Polish contract for an advanced helicopter, for example in the Airbus helicopters and Agusta Westland Sikorsky helicopter.
Rafael has recently upgraded the capabilities of its Spike missiles carried on combat helicopters. The main upgrade is the increased range of the NLOS version from 25km to 30km. According to a Rafael source, successful tests have been made with the increased range version of the Spike NLOS.
