Netherlands plans to replace its stock of the Spike anti-tank missile launchers between 2026 and the first half of 2028, its Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 2 September 2024, stating that it intends to sign contracts with Rafael in October to replace the old launchers with a system for more advanced Spike LR 2 within four years.
Netherlands MoD made strong arguments for the upgrade based on changes in modern warfare requiring the elimination of heavily armoured targets at long-range, and indicating that the 5000 metre (m) range of the new system offers a step-up in meeting this requirement.
However, in the same release the MoD described the existing system as nearing the end of its life expectancy, with the current stock of anti-tank weapons at the end of their 25-year operation and technical service life: “As a result, the system is experiencing increasing technical failures. In addition, it is difficult to maintain them and it is not possible to develop them further. In addition, the optical means for target detection and missile guidance are outdated.”
The Spike missile family serve as anti-tank guided missiles, taken as armament for land, air or naval platforms by 39 countries, including Nato and EU user groups. Spike LR is a portable anti-armour weapon system with a range of up to 4km, which can be operated in fire-and-forget mode and in fire, observe and update mode using the fibre-optic data link.
For lock-on after launch firing, the Spike uses a trailed fibre-optic cable that is spooled out between the launch-site and the missile. The system is immune to GPS jamming and radio frequency jamming, and allows the operator to redirect the missile to another target, to fire outside of line of sight, or to fire speculatively.
In fire-and-forget mode, the soldier activates the missile, locking the tracker on the target and pushes the fire button to launch. The missile automatically propels itself towards the target without any additional interaction and this fire-and-forget capability allows the soldier the option of relocating to a new firing position or to reload immediately for the next engagement. Reloading takes less than 15 seconds.
The release from the Netherlands MoD is clear in saying that the launchers it intends to purchase are capable of firing missiles purchased from other supplier countries, identifying Germany and a range of other European Allies as examples where alternative anti-tank munitions have been used.
