Polish MoD to acquire Spike LR missiles in new deal with Rafael and Polish partner Mesko.

The Polish Ministry of Defense, through its Armament Authority, announced that it is purchasing hundreds of Spike LR missiles through Rafael's local industrial partner, Mesko, in a deal worth around 100 million dollars.
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Executive Vice President Dr. Ran Gozali, Head of Land & Naval Systems Directorate: "The Spike missile family has been supporting the defense capabilities of the Polish MoD for some 20 years" (Picture source: Rafael)

As Rafael's local Polish industrial partner, Mesko has already manufactured Spike missiles for the Polish MoD, and this will be the third such deal involving the Spike missile family. Mesko and Rafael have collaborated in working with the Polish market since 2003, allowing for the sale of completely "Poland-ized" missiles to be provided for the Polish user. The robust local manufacturing capabilities have provided the Polish MoD with over 3,000 Spike missiles that are entirely Polish-made.

The legacy of success between Rafael and Mesko has brought about yet another achievement. Through 20 years of joint work, the companies have helped support the Polish defense establishment in securing the country's valued assets and providing its armed forces with the most sophisticated technology of its kind in the world.

In keeping with Rafael's global strategy, the support of local industry and allowing for not only technology transfer but also know-how has brought about another example of local industrial success and a thriving global partnership. This latest agreement further strengthens the existing relationship, and more similar deals are expected in the future.

Executive Vice President Dr. Ran Gozali, Head of Land & Naval Systems Directorate: "The Spike missile family has been supporting the defense capabilities of the Polish MoD for some 20 years. We are proud to be building on our longstanding partnership with Mesko, and are confident that there will be more agreements in the future. Building bridges with industrial partners around the globe is part of Rafael's global strategy, and here we see how those bridges enable collaboration and better defense for our friends and allies."

Spike

The missile can engage and destroy targets within the line-of-sight of the launcher ("fire-and-forget"), and some variants can make a top attack through a "fire, observe and update" method (essentially lock-on after launch); the operator tracking the target, or switching to another target, optically through the trailing fiber-optic wire (or RF link in the case of the vehicle-mounted, long-range NLOS variant) while the missile is climbing to altitude after launch. This is similar to the lofted trajectory flight profile of the US FGM-148 Javelin.

Spike-LR

Long range version of the Skike. The weight of the missile is 14 kg (31 lb), and the weight of the complete system is less than 45 kg (99 lb). The maximum range is 4,000 m (2.5 mi) and it is used by infantry and light combat vehicles. It adds fiber-optic communication to and from the operator during flight. Reported armor penetration capability is more than 700 mm (28 in) of Rolled homogeneous armor (RHA). It is also deployed in Sentry Tech remotely controlled weapons stations along the Gaza border. In early 2014, Rafael revealed they had increased the range of the Spike-LR to 5 km (3.1 mi), enhancing versatility on existing firing platforms and allowing it to be utilized on new ones like light helicopters.

Spike LR 2/LR II

A new generation of the original Spike-LR is in full-scale development and scheduled to be operational by the end of 2018. Spike-LR II has reduced weight to 12.7 kg (28 lb), increased range of 5.5 km (3.4 mi) at ground level and 10 km (6.2 mi) from helicopters using an RF data-link, warhead options of tandem HEAT with 30% increased armor penetration or a multipurpose blast warhead with selectable impact or penetration detonation fusing, a new seeker that includes an uncooled IR sensor with a smart target tracker with artificial intelligence features, the ability to fire on grid target coordinates using an inertial measurement unit for third party-target allocation, and is compatible with legacy launchers. The missile is designed with a counter-active protection system (CAPS) capability, being able to hit targets at higher impact angles of up to 70 degrees. First ordered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in October 2017.

Signing ceremony for the Spike LR production by Rafael's partner Mesko (Picture source: Rafael)

Defense News August 2023