Tuesday Jul 26, 2016 – 00:58 UTC

Rafael’s SPICE 1000 EO/GPS-guided munitions are to be adopted by the Israeli Air Force as the weapon enters into its final development stage. Integration will take place on all fighter squadrons with F-16C/D “Barak” aircraft first in line. Features of Spice include being camera operated with real time maneuver and response abilities when facing fixed and mobile targets.

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New SPICE: New Ammunition for the IAF

Release date 17.07.2016

The IAF operates various munitions adapted to its different missions and aircraft. It is now permitted to publicize that the force is expected to soon receive a new bomb manufactured by “Rafael” Systems, which is expected to bring new technological and operational tidings

Shachar Zorani | Translation: Ohad Zeltzer Zubida

“SPICE 1000”, a new munition manufactured by “Rafael” is currently in the final stages of development and is expected to enter operational use in the IAF soon. It is expected to be integrated in all of the fighter squadrons in the force and the first to operate it will be the “Barak” (F-16C/D) aircraft.

Spice 1000, is an advanced electro-optic munition which will bring new abilities and technological progress to the IAF. “The munition is a quantum leap in our operational ability, a fact that is reflected in its deep penetration abilities, its immunity from threats and it precision”, said Capt. Tomer from the Guided Munitions Department in the Air Staff. “It has improved software and algorithmic and advanced identification and processing abilities”.

As stated, the Spice 1000 bomb is camera operated and has real time maneuver and response abilities when facing fixed and mobile targets. “The munition adjusts itself to the new battlefield, to the various threats and the changing theatre”, stated Avi Danon, the project and development manager in “Rafael”, and Capt. Tomer confirms: “It has a range that we haven’t seen in the IAF in munition of this magnitude”.

Operational and Economical Advantage

Authorities in the IAF and in “Rafael” testify that the development process that lasted three years, succeeded by means of cooperation and discussion between the sides. Along the way, many tests were performed and different considerations were made in accordance with the operational requirements and needs.

“The development was escorted by a wide observation of all of the users”, testified Maj. Farhan Tarif, who is responsible for the integration of the munition in the Material Directorate. Maj. Farhan also shared that the munition is built to shorten the work time and quicken the “rotation process” – the time it takes from the moment the aircraft lands until it is armed and takes off again. “Much consideration was performed in order to fit the munition to the work in the cockpit and make the operating interface comfortable and flexible”, Capt. Tomer added.

Alongside the operational advantage the munition holds, it also creates an economical advantage based on the Israeli industry and accumulation of economic capital and knowledge. “The development project alongside ‘Rafael’ was challenging and interesting”, concluded Maj. Farhan. “It was very important to us to stay on schedule and still maintain high quality and uncompromising performance”.

Original post iaf.org.il

SPICE 250

Rafael

The latest addition to the SPICE family – is a new generation stand-off Precision Guided Munition (PGM). SPICE-250 has a standoff range of 100 kilometers. It is an autonomous weapon with real time target position update capability. SPICE-250 is a unitary munition and can be equipped with either general purpose or penetration warheads. Aircraft increase load-out and wide target set provide the optimal solution for high volume precise strike for the dynamic battlefield.

SPICE is easily integrated onto a wide range of single and dual-seated fighter aircraft, and requires no aircraft modifications.

SPICE-250 uses a common aircraft interface and sophisticated Smart Quad Rack (SQR) that simplifies the effort needed for aircraft integration. Four SPICE-250 weapons are carried on each SQR.

SPICE-250 can be directly mounted on light attack aircraft store stations, due to its small size and light weight.

SPICE is fully operational and has recently demonstrated outstanding combat performance in all parameters to become one the Israeli Air Force’s leading air-to-surface weapon systems. Source virtualmarket.ila-berlin.de

CHARACTERISTICS

Range of target destruction, km to 100 of guidance, m 3
Control system: inertial + satellite navigation + opto-electronic GOS
Weight, kg 113
Warhead weight, kg to 80

Source nevskii-bastion.ru

Spice 1000/2000 Guided Weapon

Rafael’s Spice 1000 guided weapon carries a 500 kg (1,000 pound) Mk 83 warhead. It is capable of attacking targets at ranges extended beyond 60 km. Photo: Rafael

Spice has been adapted to a number of standard warheads, from Mk-84/BLU-109 (900 kg, 2000 lbs), Mk-83/BLU-110 (450 kg, 1000 lbs) general purpose bombs. The weapon has recently been adapted now to 113 kg (250 lbs) pound small smart bombs (SSB) that are increasingly preferred by airforces due to their lower collateral damage.

The kit uses an imaging seeker for navigation and terminal homing. The system uses image matching techniques giving the weapon a Circular Error Probability (CEP) of less than three meters. Spice can be loaded with 100 optional targets in a given area. In addition to the passive image-based navigation the kit also includes Global Positioning Satellite / Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) navigation for reference and backup. But the main sensor of the Spice is the CCD/IIR dual seeker that provides pinpoint accuracy and positive target identification and according to Rafael , overcomes target location error and GPS jamming.

This scene matching example shows the correlation between the target pointed by the reference image (left) and the target picked by the weapon’s computer during a flight test. Photo: RAFAEL

The Kit’s automatic target acquisition capability is based on a unique scene-matching technology that can handle scenery changes, counter-measures, navigation errors and target location errors. The technology is based on the continuous comparison of a real-time image received from the dual CCD/IIR seeker with a reference image stored in the weapon’s computer.

The basic kit includes a strap-on forward guidance section and fixed, stubby wings and tail fins aft of the main charge, heaviest Spice uses the MK-84 (2000 pounds) general purpose bomb, with a flatter trajectory the Spice kit extends the weapon’s range beyond 60 km. This version is operational in the israeli airforce and was used in combat. Another kit has been adapted to Mk-83 (1000 pounds) bombs, featuring a wing-set that further extends the weapon range beyond 100 km. The Spice’s deployable wings allow an aircraft to carry more bombs. The latest addition of the SSB type weapon enables a single F-16 to carry up to 16 small smart bombs. Source defense-update.com