IAV 2025 – SpearUAV proposes its multirole loitering munition and C-UAS systems
SpearUAV, the Israeli company specialised in encapsulated loitering munitions, exhibited at the International Armoured Vehicles conference, organised in Farnborough January 21-23 by Defence iQ, its family of multirole loitering munitions and killer-drone systems, integration of UAS in armoured vehicles and their defence from drones being one of the key topics of the event
“Drones have become a must, but it is time to go beyond modified civilian drones as to be a real solution these must be connected to military systems such as a network, a Battle Management System, etc, and they must be something that can be maintained, Integrated Logistic Support must be part of the equation. We need one solution across the entire mechanized or manoeuvring force. And we, at SpearUAV, we are proposing a solution for the battalion level,” Yiftach Kleinman, deputy CEO of SpearUAV, tells EDR On-Line.
In his booth we can see three main products, the Viper 300, the Viper Interceptor, and the Multi Canister Launcher. When in the launch tube the Viper 300 has the shape of a parallelepiped, the four arms sustaining the four rotors are hosted in the centre of the fuselage and unfold once the air vehicle leaves the tube. The expulsion system remains unveiled. Simplicity is one of the key elements according to Yiftach Kleinman. “If you need this type of system to be deployed at large scale, and these days you definitely need it, you need to train a lot of soldiers. The aim is therefore to have the Viper used by any soldier, any tanker or infantryman, with a training of only three or four days,” the company representative said. “The soldier just needs to define a waypoint, launch the Viper, and follow targets with the automatic target recognition; as soon these are identified, he just needs to push the attack button. There is a lot of artificial intelligence involved, to reduce the soldier’s burden,” Yiftach Kleinman explains.
Having the man-in-the-loop, this allows overriding an AI decision, for example to abort the mission if the risk of collateral damages is deemed too high. The safe and arm device being electronic, this allows to disarm the warhead should the soldier decide to abandon the mission, fly the Viper back to the take-off point and recover it in total safety.
While at the front of the Viper 300 we find the optronic suite, which ensures the ISR mission, the payload is located at the rear. The 2 kg MTOW Viper 300 carries a 300 grams payload, has a range of up to 5 km and an endurance of 20 minutes. Originally born as a loitering munition, it is now evolving into a multirole effector, as the payload bay at the rear can host different types of systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) being one of the capabilities. “We are currently focusing on imaging ISR, however we also consider electronic warfare,” Yiftach Kleinman said. EDR On-Line understood that SpearUAV is cooperating with third parties for payloads, for example in the development of warheads adapted to the customer requirement, the same happening also for non-kinetic payloads.
What is definitely kinetic is the Viper I, the “I” meaning interceptor. The Viper I is launched by the same tube of the Viper 300 but has a different layout. It has a cylindrical body, with rotor arms folded backwards before launch. It weighs 3.5 kg at launch, and carries a payload up to 1.3 kg, its range being up to 2 km. “It is a very fast air vehicle, which carries a lethal package developed by a third party,” no more details being unveiled. No indication of maximum speed nor of lethal range, although the size and weight of the warhead may suggest that the Viper I might kill drones bigger than Class 1.
While the Viper 300 is in full production and is being delivered to several customers, the Viper I is in the integration phase with the system provider, which name might be disclosed soon, the SpearUAV product being therefore the munition of a wider counter-UAS system. Both the Viper 300 and Viper I can be launched from the same Multi Canister Launcher, providing therefore a combat vehicle with both attack and defence capabilities, the MCL being a system that can be adapted to the customer need in terms of number of ammunitions it can carry. Flexibility and adaptability are the buzz words at SpearUAV: “using machine learning, we are teaching our Vipers which are relevant targets for any specific customer,” Yiftach Kleinman told us.
He also wanted to underline the third product of the company, the Viper 750, a 3 kg MTOW, 1 kg payload, 10 km range, 45 minutes endurance, which peculiarity is the capacity to be launched not only from the land or from a naval ship, but also from a submarine. “I think we brought one of the largest revolutions in the submarine world for decades, as we allow the submarine to use this ISR capability while remaining submerged. The Viper 750 is launched in a capsule, which floats waiting for a signal from submarine. As soon as the signal is received, the Viper is launched from the capsule and flies to the target area. The submarine remains in stealth mode, but it is now much more relevant as intelligence tool as it provides fresh intelligence that cannot be gathered by satellite,” Kleinman explained. The Viper was successfully launched from a major NATO navy submarine. The test scenario defined by the customer included significant flight duration from the submarine, searching an area of 3 x 3 km; the company received no prior indication from the customer on the type of targets that were positioned at the test area. The mission lasted for approximately 50 minutes and all targets, two pickup trucks, commandos and more, were identified. No information was provided on how the submarine communicates with the capsule and the drone, and which is the maximum launch depth. Of course, this was definitely not an IAV issue! However, the company states that the Viper 750 is in use by ground forces as well.
Photos courtesy SpearUAV and P. Valpolini