Rafael’s family of Spike missiles

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This missile is a very important part of the Israel defense forces (IDF) arsenal of smart weapons used in the fighting in Gaza

Rafael is very careful about keeping the Spike (Tamuz) as a “family” with built- in growth potential, and therefore the new non line of sight (NLOS) version with an 25 km range can be equipped with all the warheads that fit the shorter range members of the family.

The Spike NLOS is an ideal missile to work in conjunction with different sensors that can provide real time target data.

This is especially true when the missile is getting data from unmanned air system (UAS).The UAS are becoming one of the main sources for real time target data for quick reaction weapon systems like the Spike multipurpose missiles.

The Spike family of missiles was made public in 1990 when the first member was unveiled. At first the Spike was dubbed an anti amour missile but soon it gained the more adequate label of a multipurpose missile. It is now considered one if not the most versatile missile in its category.

These missile have gained great respect from the professionals in many armies and currently they are operated by Israel, several Asian and Latin American countries, and by a number of NATO countries, including Poland, Spain, Italy, Romania, Finland, and the Czech Republic.

 Spike missiles were also selected to equip the German Puma.

The missile is offered with a variety of warheads designed to destroy tanks with special armor, and other reinforced targets.

The Spike-ER is 1.67 meters long, has a diameter of 17 cm and weighs 33 kgs.

According to Rafael the relatively slow velocity of the Spike-ER, and the fiber optic data link, allows “pin point” accuracy in adverse and night conditions.

The missile uses a dual EO seeker, that is very effective in engaging targets in day and night, utilizing ‘fire and forget’ or ‘fire and update’ operating modes. This according to Rafael , enables the operator to home in precisely on a target in the terminal phase of the trajectory.

The Spike family includes: Spike-SR with a range of 800m, Spike-MR (Gill) with range of 2,500m, Spike-LR with  a 4,000m range and Spike-ER (formerly known as NTD) with a range of 8,000m. The new NLOS version has a range of 25 km.