MADRID, ($1=0.88 Euros) — The Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Spain has published data on the Spike Phase II anti-tank missile program. The department, led by Margarita Robles, will purchase 1,680 Spike LR2 missiles and 168 firing points to replace the Tow missile and modernize the army’s anti-tank defenses, BulgarianMilitary.com has learned, citing InfoDefensa.
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According to sources at BulgarianMilitary.com, the program is already in an advanced stage, awaiting the funding needed for its official launch. Both the Spanish Army and the Marine Corps have been using the Spike LR [Long Range] missile for 15 years, and in the case of the Army, it also has a Spike ER [Extended Range] in Air Force.
The program also seeks to promote interoperability and reduce system lifecycle costs through the ability to exchange components with the Spike LR system in operation. Similarly, he intends to generate potential synergies and economies of scale that will provide an advantage in terms of inventory and coordinated support for the Spike family.
Spike LRII MWS
The Spike LR2 is an improved version of the Spike LR – compatible with it – in the Army and Marine Corps. This is the fifth generation of multi-purpose, portable, multi-platform, light, electro-optical guided missile systems. It can be used by infantry, armored vehicles, warships, and attacking helicopters.
To increase lethality, the missile includes two unique configurations of advanced high-capacity warheads. Tandem warhead Heat [High Explosive Anti Tank], which improves the penetration of armor by more than 30%, and a new multifunctional explosive warhead, which includes controlled explosion by the shooter to achieve the desired effect.
By choosing the deceleration mode, the new warhead can pierce up to 20 cm of reinforced concrete [with steel reinforcement] and detonate inside the structure, causing deadly damage to structural targets, vehicles, and ships. Immediate detonation in open terrain causes a peripheral explosion/fragmentation effect. This unique multi-purpose warhead is designed to surpass most targets at the moment on the battlefield, the defense emphasizes.
Compared to its predecessor, the Spike LR2 features several technical improvements over its predecessor: an extended range of up to 5.5 km, a dual electro-optical viewfinder, including a high-quality uncooled infrared sensor and a high-resolution daytime vision sensor in Color; and greater lethality based on greater penetration capacity and a new multi-role warhead whose fuse detonation is controlled by the shooter [e.g. inside a concrete structure].
In addition, it has a lower weight for both the launcher and the rocket itself; can be launched from vehicles, helicopters, and ships; It has a new “coordinate shot” mode of operation and has the means to simulate and maintain the various steps from the first stages of acquisition and even before receiving the systems, for possible use in training courses.
Spike LR2 has a state-of-the-art electro-optical search engine with a high-quality uncooled infrared [IR] sensor and an advanced high-resolution color daytime sensor. The new search engine includes artificial intelligence [AI] features, thus maintaining target locking, even in extreme conditions against a wide variety of targets, with almost no interference from the shooter.
Industrial plan
The idea is to acquire the Spike LR2 system on the national market. To do this, the main contractor Pap Tecnos must present an industrial plan that maintains and improves the strategic industrial capabilities of the participating defense through a plan to transfer production to the technologist – Israeli manufacturer Rafael.
Pap Tecnos has already given Spike LR2 support courses to the Spanish Armed Forces and announced in Madrid last November that it has been in contact with Spanish companies such as Tecnobit and Expal and others in the industrial fabric supply chain for a future program.
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