Hmmm. Don't quite know what to make of this one. Its been in use since the 1980's but they're just now declassifying it now? Its based on the Spike missile? What they aren't saying is that this missile is based off the TOW missile and is just an ultra long range version of it. I guess the real question has to be if all those vaunted Israeli UAV strikes were actually carried out by UAVs or if they simply had infiltrated personnel into contested areas and had them make precision calls for fire.
Read more about this missile at the Jewish Press by clicking here.
Jewish Press just needed to fill space: 'Tamuz' is just another name for 'Spike NLOS', which was officially revealed when it was sold to the South Koreans in 2011.
ReplyDeleteThe Israelis use it from ground vehicles and also have specially modified AH-1s that carry it: the chin gun is removed to make room for the data link controls.
The more interesting speculation is that it closely matches a weapon the UK deployed to A-stan and refused to give any details of, presumably for political reasons.
Also the entire Spike family has nothing to do with TOW, it's all new and in many ways better thought through than our Javelin program. The TOW derivative was the earlier, laser guided MAPATS.
Spike NLOS was my choice for an Off-the-Shelf solution instead of the Grifin for the LCS as a stand-in for the canceled NETFIRES missile.
ReplyDeleteHERE is a PDF about it and HERE is a better video of it in action.
Since it can be launched from the back of a truck, I can see a small UAV or forward spotter guiding it quite easily. You do not even need the spotter, only the general area as the missile sends back it’s video feed via the data link.