SPEAR

SPEAR, short for Selective Precision Effects At Range, is a modern British precision strike weapon family developed by MBDA. It was shaped by the requirement for aircraft to attack mobile, defended, and time-sensitive targets from outside the densest air-defence envelopes. The programme also produced related concepts such as SPEAR-EW for electronic attack missions.

MBDA describes SPEAR as a small air-launched surface-attack weapon weighing under 100 kg and measuring under two metres in length. Its turbojet propulsion, multi-sensor seeker, datalinked operation, and precision effects warhead are intended to support beyond-horizon attacks against land and maritime targets. Its compact form allows high loadout on aircraft such as Typhoon and F-35.

Operationally, SPEAR fills a space between close-support weapons and larger cruise missiles. The weapon is meant to let aircraft attack a wider set of targets while remaining farther from hostile air defences, and to carry multiple weapons per sortie. SPEAR-EW extends the same family logic into electronic warfare, using a related airframe for suppression and deception effects.