MFor the U.S. Navy-designed missile of the same name, see NAVAIR Spike.
Spike
SPIKE ATGM.jpg
Spike ATGM Command & launcher unit (CLU) with mock-up Spike-LR missile mounted on a tripod at Singapore Army Open House 2007
Type Anti-tank missile
Place of origin Israel
Service history
In service
1981–present (Spike NLOS)
1997–present
Used by See Operators
Wars 1982 Lebanon War, Second Intifada, Iraq War, 2006 Lebanon War, War in Afghanistan (2001–present), Gaza War, 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
Production history
Designed Late 1970s (Spike NLOS)
Manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems
Diehl BGT Defence (Now part of Rheinmetall Defence Electronics)
Bharat Dynamics[1]
Produced
Early 1980s – present (Spike NLOS)
1997–present
No. built over 27,000[2]
Variants See versions
Specifications
Weight
Spike-ER from helicopter:
• Missile in canister: 34 kg (74 lb 15 oz)
• Launcher: 55 kg (121 lb 4 oz)
• Launcher + 4 missiles: 187 kg (412 lb 4 oz)
Spike-MR/LR from ground:[3]
• Missile round: 14 kg (30 lb 14 oz)
• Command & launch unit (CLU): 5 kg (11 lb 0 oz)
• Tripod: 2.8 kg (6 lb 3 oz)
• Battery: 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz)
• Thermal sight: 4 kg (8 lb 13 oz)
Length 1,670 mm (5 ft 6 in) (Missile w/launcher)
Diameter 170 mm (6.7 in) (Missile w/launcher)
Rate of fire Ready to launch in 30 seconds, reload in 15 seconds
Effective firing range 1.5 km (Spike-SR)
2.5 km (Spike-MR)
4 km (Spike-LR)
8 km (Spike-ER)
25 km (Spike NLOS)
Sights 10× optical sight
Warhead Tandem-charge HEAT warhead
Detonation
mechanism
Impact
Engine Solid-fuel rocket
Guidance
system
Infrared homing – Electro Optical (CCD, IR or Dual CCD/IIR), Passive CCD or dual CCD/IIR seeker
Spike is an Israeli fourth generation[4] man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile and anti-personnel missile with a tandem-charge HEAT warhead, developed and designed by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
As well as engaging and destroying targets within the line-of-sight of the launcher (fire-and-forget), some variants of the missile are capable of making a top-attack profile through a fire, observe and update guidance method;[4] 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.[citation needed]