Israel’s Rafael unveils new, larger cruise missile dubbed Super Ice

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Rafael has unveiled a new, large cruise missile, dubbed the Super Ice, which the company says will come with a 1,000-pound warhead and is capable of being launched from air, land or sea.

A video of the new system, previewed to media ahead of today’s official release, showed the weapon being used against hardened targets, such as a bunker, as well as a ballistic missile launch site and large naval vessels.

The missile is part of Rafael’s relatively new group of cruise missiles. The other members of the family include Sea Breaker, which was introduced in 2021, and Ice Breaker, which was introduced in 2023. The Super Ice is noticeably larger, more in comparable size to the American-made Tomahawk.

In a statement, Rafael’s Chairman Yuval Steinitz called Super Ice the “best cruise missile of its kind in the world. It offers an ideal solution for long-range stand-off strikes against high-value targets, including air-defense systems.”

Continued Steinitz, “We continue to push the boundaries of knowledge and capability, strengthening Rafael’s position as Israel’s home of cruise missile development and a global leader in the field.” The company did not respond by press time as to whether the system is operational.

According to the firm, Super Ice comes with AI capabilities, is low-observable, employs high-accuracy image-matching technology and can navigate at low altitudes. A video of the system described it as being able to deal with EW challenges and operate in GNSS denied environments. It was also described as flying at a high sub-sonic speed

Company officials described the new weapon as “strategic,” but did not elaborate on its range, aside from indicating it will be longer than Sea Breaker and Ice Breaker. (For comparison, Sea Breaker has a range of around 300 km and a warhead weighing 250 pounds.) It is a “fifth-generation cruise missile characterized by its extended range and exceptional accuracy,” Rafael said in a statement on November 11.

Rafael said the system is “MK83 compatible,” which would appear to indicate it could be launched from platforms that use the MK83 bomb, meaning F-15s, F-16s, Tornados or Typhoon aircraft. It also is comparable with the existing launch systems for the Sea and Ice Breaker weapons.

“This common architecture enables customers to expand their operational capabilities while leveraging existing infrastructure and supporting more efficient Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) management,” Rafael said in its statement.  

Rafael CEO Yoav Tourgeman added that the company will “continue to develop and lead in advanced technologies, drawing on operational experience, innovation and a deep understanding of the evolving requirements of modern warfare.”

Cruise missiles are a growing market segment around the globe, with newer firms such as Covenant and Anduril pushing out new designed and more traditional companies seeking to increase their production. Rafael said in a presentation that it has seen success with the other cruise missiles, noting that in 2023 it hit $1 billion in orders for them, with more than 1,000 units sold by 2024.

Rafael makes a number of other missiles, such as the Python and Derby which were developed as air-to-air missiles, and the Spike family, which are mostly ground launcher smaller missiles. Rafael also makes the larger Popeye air-to-ground missile, as well as the Spice Family of air-to-ground systems, and the large Sparrow target missile.