The integration of SPEAR – MBDA’s cutting-edge miniature cruise missile – on the UK’s F-35B fleet took a significant step closer with its first flight on a US test fighter jet earlier this year. The major milestone happened thanks to the collaborative effort of representatives from the F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF), MBDA, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, the UK Ministry of Defence (including locally deployed RN & RAF personnel), and the U.S. Government. With clearance for the flight achieved, four SPEAR missiles were loaded by an integrated team of ITF personnel, UK Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Weapons Technicians, supported by Lockheed Martin and MBDA representatives. With the missiles housed in the payload bay, the 5th Generation fighter took off for a historic flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in the U.S., in the hands of a Royal Navy F-35B Test Pilot from the UK’s Air & Space Warfare Centre. Following the flight, data gathered will be examined, and testing will continue in preparation for the first mission systems integration and jettison trials as the next critical integration milestones.
SPEAR is the next generation of long-range air-to-surface missile, developed for the UK to provide stand-off capability in challenging, complex operating environments for Suppression of Enemy Air Defences missions. Representing an advance in network-centric precision tactical strike, the innovative weapon meets the demand for operating in all conditions, resisting intensive countermeasures, and engaging moving and manoeuvring targets with precision. The first flight of SPEAR on F-35 follows the missiles’ first guided firings (conducted from Typhoon) in late 2024, a critical milestone in the programme’s development and maturity. The firings demonstrated the missile’s capabilities and maturity, once again these were a testament to collaborative efforts between UK MOD, MBDA and BAE Systems personnel delivering complex activities across multiple teams. This milestone sits within the context of notable progress for other capabilities of the UK and Italy’s F-35 weapons package, including METEOR BVRAAM trials progress on both the F-35A and F-35B platforms over the past year.
Successes like the first flight of SPEAR on F-35B amplify the continued interest in SPEAR from the export market and other platform providers looking to provide customers with a cutting-edge stand-off precision strike capability. For example, at Seoul ADEX 2025, Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) and MBDA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate the SPEAR Air-to-Ground missile onto the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet. MBDA designed SPEAR with spiral development in mind, and funding from the UK Ministry of Defence accelerated SPEAR-EW development. This novel electronic warfare effector acts as a stand-in jammer, designed to confuse enemy air defence protecting friendly forces and serving as a significant force multiplier. MBDA has also added a lower-cost, higher-mass variant with SPEAR Glide. Designed for high-rate production and accelerated entry into service, it is another complementary capability for SPEAR and SPEAR-EW. The commonality of the SPEAR family ensures operators have minimal integration differences for each SPEAR variants.
