Undisclosed Number to be Operated by Army
Italy is the first European nation to adopt the Israeli Spike LR2 5th-generation anti-tank missile. Although official documents revealed a requirement for “additional lots of Spike missiles”, the Italian Army has now confirmed it has opted for an undisclosed number of Spike LR2s.
The evolved version of Rafael‘s anti-tank missile extends the range to 5.5km (10km from helicopters), up from 4 and 8km respectively for the previous LR variant, and offers 30% increased armour penetration. Furthermore, it comes with a new IR seeker and some unspecified AI features – probably as part of the smart target tracker. The base Spike LR version is already in service with at least 29 countries.
Original at Rivista Italiana Difesa
MON comment: the system will likely be procured through EuroSpike (a joint venture of Rafael, Diehl Defence, and Rheinmetall Electronics). Italy is the official launch customer, but Latvia might have already procured a small number of Spike LR2, as well as the SR variant, in 2018-2020. Although the nation boasts a dedicated training centre for Spike users, it has never confirmed which versions it procured.