On December 9, 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Finland announced the purchase of large batches of Spike-SR, Spike-LR2 and Spike-ER2 anti-tank guided missiles for the Finnish armed forces from the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for a total of 223.6 million euros (excluding VAT). The purchase will be carried out through the NATO procurement agency NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) and the NATO Land Combat Missiles partnership program.
Portable launcher of the EuroSpike / Rafael Spike-MR/LR anti-tank missile system (Finnish designation PSTOHJ2000M) of the Finnish Land Forces (c) Finnish Defense ForcesThe Finnish Ministry of Defense announced that Spike-SR and Spike-LR2 missiles are being purchased to replenish anti-tank weapons as part of the accelerated additional procurement program of the Finnish army.
The purchase of Spike-LR2 will increase the ammunition of missiles to the previously purchased Spike-MR/LR anti-tank missile systems (Finnish designation PSTOHJ2000M). Spike-SR light anti-tank missile systems are being purchased by Finland for the first time. Spike-ER2 missiles are being purchased for the coastal defense of the Finnish Navy. Judging by the value of the contract, the number of missiles purchased is very significant and will significantly increase the Finnish anti-tank potential.
Earlier, Finland, under a 2000 contract worth $ 50 million, purchased 100 Spike-MR/LR (PSTOHJ2000M) portable ATGM launchers with 300 Spike-MR missiles (weight 14 kg, firing range 2500 m) and 200 Spike-LR missiles (weight 14 kg, firing range 4000 m) for its ground forces. For the coastal defense of the Finnish Navy, 18 launchers and 400 Spike-ER missiles (weight 33 kg, range up to 8000 m) were purchased as light anti-ship weapons under contracts of 2002 and 2006, this complex has the Finnish designation Rannikko-Ohjus 2006 (RO 06). All these complexes and missiles were supplied from the German production line of the EuroSpike GmbH consortium, a joint venture between Rafael and the German companies Diehl Defense and Rheinmetall.
The modified Spike-LR2 missiles now being purchased by Finland have a mass of 12.7 kg and a range of up to 5500 m, and the modified Spike-ER2 missiles have a mass of 35 kg and a range of up to 10 km.
The Spike-SR complex ordered by Finland is a lightweight portable version of the Spike family of ATGMs developed by Rafael and was first introduced in 2012. The Spike-SR missile weighs 8 kg, its weight in a transport and launch container is 9.6 kg, the minimum firing range is 50 m, and the maximum range is 2000 m. A special feature of the Spike-SR is the absence of a special separate launcher with a sight - the rocket is launched from a single-use transport and launch container from the shoulder, while the target is captured before launch through the homing head of the rocket itself with the image output to a small display on the TPC. The rocket is equipped with a cheaper uncooled electron-optical infrared thermal imaging homing head of type IIR with a rigid installation, unlike the more powerful GOS on a gimbal in Spike-MR/LR/ ER versions. The warhead can be either a multi-purpose tandem cumulative warhead with a high-explosive fragmentation effect, or an armor-piercing high-explosive fragmentation warhead (PBF). Until recently, Singapore was the only known significant customer of the Spike-SR ATGM (under a 2016 contract), and at the beginning of 2022, Estonia signed a contract for the purchase of 500 Spike-SR ATGMs worth more than 40 million euros with the EuroSpike consortium.
The launcher of the EuroSpike / Rafael Spike-ER anti-tank (anti-ship) missile system (Finnish designation Rannikko-Ohjus 2006) of the Finnish Navy Coastal Defense (c) Finnish Defense ForcesLight portable anti-tank missile system Rafael Spike-SR (c) Finnish Defense Forces
