Air-to-surface missile
The Select Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) Capability 3, or simply referred to as SPEAR 3 is a future British air-to-ground and possibly anti-ship cruise missile that could also be considered a loitering munition.[8][9] It is currently planned to be integrated on the Eurofighter Typhoon, F-35B Lightning and possibly Tempest.[10][11]
SPEAR 3 had been planned to be operational in 2025.[12] However, in November 2021, Defence Procurement Minister Jeremy Quin told the House of Commons Select Defence Committee that full operating capability for SPEAR-3 on F-35 might not occur until 2028.[13]
A SPEAR-EW (Electronic Warfare) variant, similar in capabilities to the ADM-160 MALD, has also been fast-tracked into development.[14]
Background
The Select Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) program is a portfolio of guided munitions being procured by the Royal Air Force across five different capability programs each incrementally increasing in weapon range and from tactical to strategic roles.[15] The SPEAR capability 3 was to be an 100 kg class weapon that would sit between the updated capabilities of Brimstone (SPEAR 2) and Storm Shadow (SPEAR 4) to provide a high-sortie-capacity standoff weapon.[15]
A number of suppliers offered products to meet the program requirements. In 2008, Lockheed Martin offered the Surveilling Miniature Attack Cruise Missile (SMACM) which was not taken forward. In the 2010s, Raytheon (Now RTX) offered the SDB-II (GBU-53) unpowered glide bomb including the possibility licensed production at their UK facilities.[15] Meanwhile MBDA UK offered a new missile design utilising existing developments in weapons technologies such as for Brimstone to produce a miniature cruise missile which was then taken forward with an assessment phase contract offered in the 2010s.[15][16] In 2015, Raytheon considered developing a powered SDB-II variant with a turbojet, or alternatively, developing a weaponised variant of the ADM-160 MALD (Miniature Air-Launched Decoy) with both options as likely counters to MBDA's competing powered-weapon design.[17]
In March 2016, a SPEAR trials missile was launched from a Eurofighter Typhoon trials aircraft operated by BAE Systems at the QinetiQ Aberporth range in Wales. The missile transitioned through separation from the aircraft to powered flight before completing a series of manoeuvres, ending in a terminal dive to the desired point of impact. The missile accurately followed the planned trajectory and was well within simulation predictions; all trial objectives were achieved.[11] In May 2016, MBDA's bid for SPEAR Cap 3 program was fully solidified when the MoD awarded them a £411 million contract for the development of their air-launched SPEAR missile.[18]
In July 2023, Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) data revealed that the Delivery Confidence Assessment had been downgraded from Amber to Red primarily resulting from " “...challenges with resourcing sufficient suitably qualified and experienced people across the programme and delivery teams, and within industry”.[19]
Characteristics
SPEAR 3 weighs less than 90 kg (198.4 lbs) with a length of 1.8m (70.8 in) and a diameter of 180mm (7.08 in).[20] The missile will feature a multimode seeker with INS/GPS guidance and datalink.[21] The missile is set to use the same Hamilton Sundstrand TJ-150 turbojet as the JSOW-ER and MALD combined with a folding wing kit, providing an engagement range in excess of 140 km (86.9 mi).[22][20] The fusing options and warhead are likely to be similar to that of 14 lb warhead of Brimstone.
SPEAR 3 will be integrated with the F-35 Lightning's Block 4 software package and on the Eurofighter Typhoon around the mid-to-late 2020s.[23] Mock-ups for the UK's future sixth-generation fighter 'Tempest' being developed under the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) with Japan and Italy have been shown with SPEAR 3 as part of the aircraft's possible future arsenal alongside the Future Cruise/Anti Ship Weapon(s) (FC/ASW).[10][24] MBDA has shown artwork of a three-missile launcher on a single Typhoon weapon station,[21] and four will fit with a Meteor air-to-air missile in each of the two internal weapons bays of the F-35B when in an air-to-surface configuration.[21][25] No images have yet been revealed of any external SPEAR 3 carriage capability for the F-35B with all current renderings and models showing only internally mounted weapons.
Networked swarm capability for SPEAR missiles is in development.[26] In 2023, MBDA announced that SPEAR 3 would be integrated into ORCHESTRIKE, MBDA's collaborative effector system utilising AI to allow multiple smart munitions to work in concert with one another.[27][28]
SPEAR-EW Electronic Warfare missile
A triplet of SPEAR 3 missiles for the Eurofighter Typhoon. The missiles are carried inverted before dropping, flipping, and accelerating towards their target.
SPEAR-EW
MBDA also proposed and was later awarded a technical demonstrator program contract for a SPEAR Electronic Warfare (SPEAR-EW) variant, a SEAD attack version for the RAF.[29][30][15][31] The fuel capacity would be enlarged and the warhead and seeker removed to accommodate an electronic warfare payload derived from Leonardo UK's BriteCloud countermeasure allowing SPEAR-EW to loiter in contested airspace and act as a stand-in jammer or in a decoy role similar to the ADM-160 MALD.[15][26][28][32] The UK had previously shown interest in the capabilities of MALD back in 2009 at the Paris Air Show.[33]
In September 2023, MBDA was awarded additional funds to fast-track the development of SPEAR-EW from the Ministry of Defence.[14] This suggests that the UK is looking to field SPEAR-EW operationally alongside SPEAR 3, although this has not be officially confirmed.
Conceptualised variants
Concepts have also been shown for additional missile variants such as SPEAR Glide, an unpowered variant without the TJ-150 turbojet making it more analogous to the GBU-53; sacrificing speed, range and manoeuvrability for a larger warhead and possibly lower cost whilst still be able to be carried on the same weapon rail as other SPEAR variants by retaining the common airframe.[15][31] Another concept has been for a surface launched variant called the Common Anti-Surface Modular Missile (CAsMM) that could be quad-packed into the Mark 41 / Mark 57 or similar vertical launcher systems (Sylver) by utilising the same Extensible Launching System (EXLS) munitions adapter as the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) family.[15]
