AUSA 2025: Rafael introduces L-Spike 4X drone as a high-speed and long-loiter precision weapon
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At AUSA 2025 in Washington, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems introduced the L-Spike 4X, a new “launched effect” that blends missile-speed dash with extended loitering capability. The system is designed for U.S. and allied forces seeking faster, more survivable precision fires in contested environments.
On October 13, 2025, during AUSA 2025, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems unveiled the L-Spike 4X as a new “launched effect” built around the Spike missile lineage. Army Recognition photographed the system on the show floor in Washington, confirming a design that marries missile-class dash speed with on-station loiter, a profile aimed squarely at contested air defense environments. Rafael describes a 40 km engagement envelope, a time to reach that envelope of roughly five minutes, and up to 25 minutes of persistence for target confirmation and strike authorization. Warhead options include tandem HEAT and a multi-purpose blast/fragmentation payload to handle armor, vehicles, and fortified points.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
L-Spike 4X is a high-velocity launched effect that dashes to target then loiters up to 25 minutes (~40 km range); salvo-fired, multi-warhead, EO/IR seeker with GPS-hardened links (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
The L-Spike 4X is a purpose-built loitering missile. The drone architecture uses a compact propulsion module that sprints to the target area before throttling back to loiter, a profile intended to compress the kill chain and reduce vulnerability to interception during transit. The persistence window of about 25 minutes once on station is a major differentiator from electric loitering munitions that can take long minutes just to cover similar distances.
Rafael literature indicates the round weighs roughly 50 kg with canister and can be salvo-fired in fours from a multi-platform launcher that fits land vehicles, ships, and airborne pylons. The company has already animated an Apache-mounted shot, signaling straightforward integration for U.S. Army rotary-wing formations that already field Spike NLOS. Guidance is multi-mode with an EO/IR seeker and hardened links for GPS-denied environments, and the firm highlights autonomous target acquisition with a human in the loop.
The L-Spike 4X employs AI-enabled target recognition and allows a single operator to control up to four missiles simultaneously. Coupled with the ability to salvo four rounds from one launcher, the system can prosecute multiple nodes in a battery or armored column at once or redirect a trailing round for immediate re-attack if the first shot underperforms. That is a meaningful evolution from earlier loitering munitions that required more operators per effector and longer transit times.
The L-Spike 4X gives ground commanders and aircrews a fast, precision tool that can be cued by radar, EW, or reconnaissance feeds, dashed to a grid in minutes, and then held overhead while the engagement authority catches up. The missile-class dash should complicate enemy counter-UAS tactics that are optimized for slow prop-driven vehicles, while the loiter window supports positive identification and prosecution of fleeting targets such as air defense radars, artillery, and mobile command posts. Integration with existing Spike launch architectures and potential carriage on AH-64s would let Army brigades generate standoff effects without exposing manned aircraft to short-range air defenses, and the multi-purpose and HEAT warheads expand the target set from armor to trenches and light structures.
The debut lands at a time when loitering munitions are redefining battlefield tempo from Ukraine to the Middle East. Western forces have learned hard lessons about electronic warfare attrition, the need to outrun pop-up air defenses, and the importance of rapid, decentralized fires at brigade and below. The U.S. Army’s launched-effects push seeks exactly this mix of speed, survivability, and autonomy, especially as rotorcraft fleets pivot from canceled programs to incremental modernization. Israel’s industry, for its part, is aligning products to U.S. demand signals and NATO export markets that are racing to replenish stockpiles while raising the bar for precision strike at range.
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At AUSA 2025 in Washington, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems introduced the L-Spike 4X, a new “launched effect” that blends missile-speed dash with extended loitering capability. The system is designed for U.S. and allied forces seeking faster, more survivable precision fires in contested environments.
On October 13, 2025, during AUSA 2025, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems unveiled the L-Spike 4X as a new “launched effect” built around the Spike missile lineage. Army Recognition photographed the system on the show floor in Washington, confirming a design that marries missile-class dash speed with on-station loiter, a profile aimed squarely at contested air defense environments. Rafael describes a 40 km engagement envelope, a time to reach that envelope of roughly five minutes, and up to 25 minutes of persistence for target confirmation and strike authorization. Warhead options include tandem HEAT and a multi-purpose blast/fragmentation payload to handle armor, vehicles, and fortified points.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
L-Spike 4X is a high-velocity launched effect that dashes to target then loiters up to 25 minutes (~40 km range); salvo-fired, multi-warhead, EO/IR seeker with GPS-hardened links (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
The L-Spike 4X is a purpose-built loitering missile. The drone architecture uses a compact propulsion module that sprints to the target area before throttling back to loiter, a profile intended to compress the kill chain and reduce vulnerability to interception during transit. The persistence window of about 25 minutes once on station is a major differentiator from electric loitering munitions that can take long minutes just to cover similar distances.
Rafael literature indicates the round weighs roughly 50 kg with canister and can be salvo-fired in fours from a multi-platform launcher that fits land vehicles, ships, and airborne pylons. The company has already animated an Apache-mounted shot, signaling straightforward integration for U.S. Army rotary-wing formations that already field Spike NLOS. Guidance is multi-mode with an EO/IR seeker and hardened links for GPS-denied environments, and the firm highlights autonomous target acquisition with a human in the loop.
The L-Spike 4X employs AI-enabled target recognition and allows a single operator to control up to four missiles simultaneously. Coupled with the ability to salvo four rounds from one launcher, the system can prosecute multiple nodes in a battery or armored column at once or redirect a trailing round for immediate re-attack if the first shot underperforms. That is a meaningful evolution from earlier loitering munitions that required more operators per effector and longer transit times.
The L-Spike 4X gives ground commanders and aircrews a fast, precision tool that can be cued by radar, EW, or reconnaissance feeds, dashed to a grid in minutes, and then held overhead while the engagement authority catches up. The missile-class dash should complicate enemy counter-UAS tactics that are optimized for slow prop-driven vehicles, while the loiter window supports positive identification and prosecution of fleeting targets such as air defense radars, artillery, and mobile command posts. Integration with existing Spike launch architectures and potential carriage on AH-64s would let Army brigades generate standoff effects without exposing manned aircraft to short-range air defenses, and the multi-purpose and HEAT warheads expand the target set from armor to trenches and light structures.
The debut lands at a time when loitering munitions are redefining battlefield tempo from Ukraine to the Middle East. Western forces have learned hard lessons about electronic warfare attrition, the need to outrun pop-up air defenses, and the importance of rapid, decentralized fires at brigade and below. The U.S. Army’s launched-effects push seeks exactly this mix of speed, survivability, and autonomy, especially as rotorcraft fleets pivot from canceled programs to incremental modernization. Israel’s industry, for its part, is aligning products to U.S. demand signals and NATO export markets that are racing to replenish stockpiles while raising the bar for precision strike at range.
