Greek Naval Vessels To Be Fitted With SPIKE Missiles

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Greece will proceed with the procurement of SPIKE fire-and-forget missiles from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to equip eight naval vessels of two different types.

The Greek Governmental Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA), under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, decided today to proceed with the procurement of SPIKE missiles from the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, to equip the Hellenic Armed Forces. The acquisition of SPIKE fire-and-forget missiles will equip, among others, eight naval vessels in total, of two different types.

The Hellenic Navy (Πολεμικό Ναυτικό) has been planning for a year now to receive this type of missile for its vessels

Specifically, the Hellenic Navy will install on the Machitis-class (HSY56A) patrol vessels a Typhoon MLS-NLOS system at the RHIB deck, with eight (8) SPIKE (Non-Line-of-Sight) Long-Range missiles each, for sea-to-shore fire support or sea-to-sea targeting.

The Machitis boats, an improved design of the previous HSY-56 which is based on the Danish Osprey-55, were built by Hellenic Shipyards and delivered to the Hellenic Navy between 2003 and 2005. These are the most modern patrol vessels of Hellenic Navy and some of the best equipped patrol boats worldwide in this displacement (575t at full load) and category, especially in the electronic equipment and the weapons.

The SPIKE NLOS missile, part of Rafael’s multigenerational SPIKE missile family, enables day and night, all-weather, NLOS target engagement for ranges of up to 32 km ‒ with real-time target data gathering during flight and pinpoint accuracy. Effective in low-intensity asymmetric engagements, and stand-off combat, the system can be supplied with a variety of warheads including High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), Penetration Blast Fragmentation (PBF) with warhead detonation control, and Fragmentation. The system is equipped with a passive dual-mode electro-optical seeker, an Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) camera, advanced image processing tracker, and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) which enable its day/night capabilities.

Furthermore, the Hellenic Navy will install a Typhoon MLS-ER system on the stern deck of the four Mk V special operations craft (SOC) featuring four SPIKE Extended Range (ER) 2 missiles each. The Mk Vs entered service in 2021-2022. They were donated by the United States, after receiving several upgrades from the Hellenic Navy including new communications suite, navigation radar and FLIR electro-optical sensor.

The system comprises a lightweight, low silhouette, compact and stabilized turret with four missiles on the mount, together with a fire control system (electro-optical sensor) for effective ranges of up to 10 km. It can be provided with either High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) or Penetration Blast Fragmentation (PBF) warheads. The system enables very fast sensor-to-shooter loop closure in day/night defensive and offensive scenarios, thereby ensuring mission success with surgical precision. In case of friendly force presence, the operator can abort the mission with the missile in-flight.

The Rafael systems will significantly boost the operational capabilities of both Machitis-class patrol vessels and Mk V SOC.