Small, cheap, accurate -– all the words to make a weapon researcher’s heart beat fast. U.S. Navy officials say they have conducted the first successful demonstration –- against a moving target -- of what they contend is the world’s smallest, fire-and-forget, precision guided missile. The Spike, a 5.3 lb., 25-in. long, 2.25-in. diameter missile, used its electro-optical imaging seeker to acquire, track and hit a target moving at 30 mph at a range of over 750 yds. during a test by the Navy’s Air Warfare Center Weapons Div. at China Lake, Calif.
The ultimate plan in the test program is to equip a small, unmanned aircraft with the weapon and a weapons management suite that would be connected via RF data link to a ground-based weapons control station. The next phase of the program is scheduled for the fall and will involve launching a Spike from a 750-ft. mountain peak at a target moving at 60 mph over 2,400 yards away.
A longer term goal is build the missile at a cost of $5,000 each. At that price, officials believe they can expand the missile’s capabilities to include its use as a shoulder-fired infantry weapon or as a weapon to defend ships from swarms of small boats and light aircraft.
--David Fulghum
I wish they had picked another name... most googles turn up the Israeli Spike, which is unrelated.
Posted by: Big D | May 18, 2007 at 12:46 PM
can you clear up some of the confusion on this article?I've found an article on military.com about this and it says It's the same system as the Israeli Spike.
http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_SPIKE,,00.html
Posted by: Xander | May 19, 2007 at 02:20 AM
The Israeli Spike, developed by RAFAEL, is optically guided via an optical-fiber. The laser guided Spike, developed by DRS under a US Navy program, homes in on a laser spot, marked by a designator, similar to the guidance of laser guided Hellfire or Paveway laser guided bomb. Read more on both 'Spikes' and other UAV weapons at the link:
http://www.defense-update.com/features/du-1-07/feature_armedUAVs.htm
or more on the laser guided Spike, at the following Defense-Update page:
http://www.defense-update.com/products/s/spike_laser.htm
Posted by: Tamir Eshel | May 20, 2007 at 04:47 PM
thanks for the comment, Tamir. very helpful
Posted by: Sean Meade | May 20, 2007 at 07:21 PM
Tamir, a very plugged in Israeli defense writer and friend, is absolutely correct. The Israeli Spike is much larger and more sophisticated. The U.S. Spike is small and cheap and aimed at putting weapons on smaller UAVs.
Posted by: dave fulghum | May 21, 2007 at 08:04 AM
can you give more datasheet about spike?
Posted by: ctsszb | May 29, 2007 at 04:32 AM