Philippine Navy test-fires first Spike missile from MPAC gunboat

The Philippine Navy successfully tested the first Spike short-range surface-to-surface missile from a gunboat during an exercise off Lamao Point in Bataan, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The Spike Extended Range missile fired from a Multi-Purpose Assault Craft successfully hit a target six kilometers (3.7 miles) away on Thursday, August 9, The Philippine Star reported Navy spokesperson Commander Jonathan Zata as saying.

“The target was hit dead center even if the sea condition was moderately rough with waves at least one meter high but within the normal firing conditions of the missile,” Zata said.

Teams from the Navy, Department of National Defense Technical Inspection and Acceptance Committee, and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems were on hand for the test, which was part of the acceptance phase for entering the new boat into service.

The exercise included the firing of a mini-typhoon machine gun also installed on the MPAC, he added.

Rafael secured a contract last year to supply and integrate the Spike missile system on three indigenously made MPAC MKIII platforms. Each boat will be equipped with a Mini Typhoon Remote Control Weapon System armed with a Browning M2 50-caliber machine gun and a Typhoon MLS-ER launcher.

The Spike system arrived in the Philippines in April.

Developed by the Filipino company Propmech Corp., the MPAC MKIII is part of the Philippines’ littoral combat force. The Navy has nine MPACs in service and an additional three planned.

Spike missile system

Rafael’s Spike system originated as a fire-and-forget man-portable anti-tank guided missile system with a range of 2.5-4km, depending on variant. The extended-rage variant has a range of 8km, while the non-line-of-sight variant can hit targets at up to 25km.

Spike is fielded by 28 countries including the Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Germany, and Rafael says more than 23,000 Spike systems have been purchased worldwide. The Azerbaijani Coast Guard’s Saar 62 offshore patrol vehicles are equipped with a Spike NLOS missile launcher.

In February, Latvia’s armed forces said Spike anti-tank guided missiles would be procured for its CVR-T armored vehicle fleet. Australia plans to outfit their new Boxer combat vehicles with the LR2 variant.