Asian nation buys Israel’s anti-tank Spike missiles in $30 million deal

Business

Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has announced that it has been awarded a new contract with an Asian nation to provide comprehensive maintenance support services for operational systems employed by its navy.

The multi-year agreement is worth an estimated NIS 100 million ($30 million dollars) and will include maintenance services for the navy’s TYPHOON and MINI-TYPHOON remotely-controlled naval weapon stations, Naval SPIKE ER and NLOS missile systems, EO surveillance systems, as well as EW Integrated Decoy Systems (IDS).

Poland purchasing missiles through Refael industry partner

In addition, the Polish Defense Ministry, 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.

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-made 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 Iron Dome air defense missile systems is seen during operational trials conducted following the conclusion Operation Shield and Arrow on May 14, 2023 (credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)

Spike missiles are innovative and precise electro-optical missiles, which can be launched from about 45 platforms on land, at sea and in the air. 41 countries around the world use the Spike missiles, of which 21 are EU countries and NATO alliance countries.

More than 40,000 missiles from the Spike family have already been supplied to countries around the world and over 7,000 of them have been fired, both as part of training routines and in operational use on the battlefield. The spike was one of the factors in Azerbaijan’s victory in the second Karabakh war in 2020 against Armenia, with other Israeli-made military products including Israel Aerospace Industry’s Harop loitering munitions.