On 26th May 2009, at the Capo Teulada firing range, Oto Melara, a Finmeccanica Company, and the Israeli Rafael, respectively designer and manufacturer of the 25mm HITFIST® PLUS turret integrated with the SPIKE kit the former,  designer and supplier of the SPIKE missiles and of the launching control kit  the latter, have performed very important launching trials necessary for the industrial validation of the weapon system.

After firing a couple of inert ammunition (“Ejection Test”),  in order to validate the missile launching phase from the two launchers, two Medium Range SPIKE missiles in “Fire and Forget” mode, followed by two Long Range  in   “Fire and Observe” version, have been fired against targets situated at distances of more than 2.000 and 3.000 meters that have been successfully hit.

These trials are part of the Anti-tank “Freccia” vehicle homologation program that the Iveco-Oto Melara Consortium is carrying on.

The activities will continue in the following weeks with launches of SPIKE Long Range missiles performed by the Italian Army technical personnel.

This trial campaign will be concluded within the next month of June, while the homologation of the whole Anti-tank “Freccia” system will follow within a short period of time.