{"id":37063,"date":"2020-01-09T15:04:16","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T15:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/09\/army-to-field-israeli-made-long-range-missile-on-helicopters\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:52:22","slug":"army-to-field-israeli-made-long-range-missile-on-helicopters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2020\/01\/09\/army-to-field-israeli-made-long-range-missile-on-helicopters\/","title":{"rendered":"US Army to field Israeli-made long-range missile on helicopters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 The U.S. Army has decided to field an Israeli-made, long-range precision munition <\/a>on attack helicopters as an interim solution to get after greater stand-off and long-range<\/a> engagements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Army Requirements Oversight Council decision has authorized the service to field a certain number of Rafael\u2019s Spike Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) missiles <\/a>ahead of a bigger decision on a plan for acquiring long-range precision munitions<\/a> for the service\u2019s current and future aviation fleets, Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, who is in charge of Army aviation modernization, said at a Bell demonstration of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor<\/a> helicopter on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That bigger decision has yet to go before the AROC, Rugen said, but after successful tests of the Spike system in 2019, the Army is moving forward to address a much-desired capability, particularly when considering how the service will fight in the future where greater stand-off to go up against enemy targets is paramount to successful operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service fired the Spike NLOS missile from AH-64 Apache attack helicopters both in Israel and at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, last year. Defense News was present for one of six multidomain operations-relevant shots fired from an E-model Apache at Yuma in August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multidomain operations<\/a> is the Army\u2019s future warfighting concept that addresses the expectation that the service will be fighting not only on land but also in the maritime, air, space and cyber domains. And the Army won\u2019t be fighting alone, as the concept is focused on integration of the joint force and with allies and partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The test shots were performed in challenging terrain. The AH-64 hid behind 1,600 feet of craggy mountain and took take aim at a target representing a Russian Pantsir medium-range, surface-to-air missile system on the opposite slope. In the shot witnessed by Defense News, the Apache flew just a couple of hundred feet above the highest obstacle in the desert when the missiles were fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The missiles hit every target across nine total shots used to evaluate the system. The last missile firing resulted in the weapon hitting a moving target in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the evaluation of the Spike missile led to the Army\u2019s decision to acquire some of them for an interim system, it also helped the service define requirements for long-range precision munitions in terms of what it buys and how many it might need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rugen would not detail how many Spike missiles the service will buy or when it plans to field those systems because briefings on Capitol Hill regarding its plans are ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\t