Tel Aviv: The navy of Singapore has selected the Israeli developed Blue Spear missile for installation on its Formidable-class frigate fleet which includes six ships. The Formidable-class multi-role stealth frigates are multi-mission derivatives of the French Navy’s La Fayette-class frigate.
The Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Blue Spear anti-ship missiles will be installed as a replacement for the American Harpoon missiles. The Blue Spear is a 5th generation and has been developed in cooperation between the IAI and ST Engineering from Singapore.
Some years ago, Estonia selected the Blue Spear. The Blue Spear missile system is an advanced precision weapon which can operate at all weather conditions, day and night and enables strike capabilities beyond the line of sight, against mobile and stationary targets at sea. The missile’s maximum range is 290 km.
According to IAI, Blue Spear missiles shares a heritage with IAI’s Gabriel missile family system which has been developed over many years.
The Blue Spear system enables launching from several land-based platforms with flight at high sub-sonic speed. The warhead employs an active radar-homing seeker, accurate INS-based navigation capabilities and a robust system which is immune to GPS disruptions and maximal accuracy target acquisition. The system is equipped with a variety of deception means to achieve the mission .
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
