The Philippine Navy concluded a successful test-firing of its Spike non-line-of-sight (NLOS) missile system from both air and sea platforms west of San Antonio in Zambales province on Tuesday, September 9.
The exercise featured coordinated missile launches from an AW159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopter and the Acero-class fast attack interdiction craft (FAIC) BRP Tomas Campo.
The helicopter conducted the Philippine Navy's first-ever aerial launch of a Spike NLOS missile, while the FAIC fired another missile at a separate target.
The Spike NLOS missile was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to enable precision strikes against threats from long distances, the navy said in a press release following the exercise.
Four of the Philippine Navy's eight Acero-class FAICs can each be armed with up to eight Spike NLOS missiles for striking targets up to 25 kilometres away.
An earlier variant of the Spike missile known as the Spike-ER has been in service with the Philippine Navy since 2018. A successful test firing of the Spike-ER by a Philippine Navy ship against a floating target was conducted on August 9 of that year when a multi-purpose attack craft fired a missile off Bataan province.
