MBDA Unveils SPEAR Glide at DSEI 2025' Low-Cost, Mass-Producible Precision Glide Weapon for Contested Skies

LONDON : At DSEI 2025, MBDA unveiled the SPEAR Glide, a new glide-variant in the company’s SPEAR family designed to meet an emerging operational requirement: affordable, mass-producible precision munitions that remain effective in contested, GPS-denied environments.

The SPEAR Glide keeps the proven geometry of the original SPEAR missile but omits the turbojet propulsion system, cutting complexity and cost while freeing internal volume for a larger warhead. The weapon weighs just under 100 kg and measures less than two metres in length, enabling compatibility with existing triple and quadruple SPEAR/Brimstone launchers and, thanks to a folding-wing design, with the internal bays of advanced fighters such as the F-35.

Designed as a medium-range utility strike weapon, SPEAR Glide is intended to be produced and fielded in greater numbers than high-end powered missiles. MBDA positions it to complement — not replace — the powered SPEAR: the powered variant remains the deep-strike, high-value option, while Glide is built for scalability, stockpiling and saturation strikes that can overwhelm layered air-defence systems during protracted or attrition-heavy campaigns.

Guidance and resilience

A key feature of the Glide is its dual-mode seeker, combining electro-optical/infrared imaging and semi-active laser guidance. For operations where GNSS signals are unavailable or jammed, the weapon uses image-based navigation and advanced onboard algorithms to match terrain or target imagery — an approach that increases terminal accuracy without relying solely on satellites. That resilience makes it suitable for missions in heavily contested electronic-warfare environments.

Lethality and target set

By replacing the turbojet and reallocating space, SPEAR Glide accommodates a full-calibre kinetic penetrator paired with an explosive filler, improving effectiveness against soft and moderately hardened targets — command posts, bunkers, infrastructure and slow-moving vehicles. The glide approach trades sustained powered dash for simpler manufacture and an enlarged warhead, aligning the weapon for widespread use where repeated, precise effects are required rather than single, long-range strikes.

Performance and integration

MBDA indicates the Glide’s operational range will exceed 80 km from suitable release conditions — putting it in a class comparable to other modern glide munitions — although actual range will depend on release altitude, speed and mission profile. Because its exterior geometry mirrors current SPEAR family members, integration with platforms already configured for SPEAR or Brimstone should be accelerated, reducing certification time and leveraging existing logistics, handling and training systems.

Industrial strategy and sovereignty

A central pillar of the SPEAR Glide program is production resilience. The design prioritizes commercial off-the-shelf components and modular sub-systems, enabling faster scaling of manufacture and simpler local industrial participation. MBDA has emphasised the potential for partner nations to integrate national sub-components with minimal additional certification — a selling point for countries seeking sovereign supply chains and reduced reliance on non-European suppliers.

This approach also enhances exportability: a lower per-unit cost and fewer export constraints make the Glide attractive to nations planning to build large inventories of precision stand-off weapons for sustained operations.

Strategic implications

The SPEAR Glide reflects a doctrinal shift: modern air campaigns increasingly value volume of fire as well as single-shot precision. Recent conflicts exposed vulnerabilities in allied stocks of precision munitions, and the Glide is explicitly designed to fill that gap — enabling air forces to reserve premium powered missiles for initial suppression or high-value deep-strike missions while using the Glide to maintain operational tempo and conduct follow-on precision strikes.

In contested theatres where attrition is likely, having a weapon that can be produced and fielded en masse offers strategic flexibility. It enables saturation tactics against integrated air-defence networks, sustained targeting of logistics and C2 nodes, and the ability to sustain long campaigns without rapid depletion of high-end assets.

Limitations and outlook

As an unpowered glide munition, SPEAR Glide’s range and terminal manoeuvre capability are inherently dependent on delivery conditions. Against very heavily fortified or deeply buried targets, heavier powered weapons or specialized penetrators will still be necessary. Official programme timelines indicate rapid development over the past 18 months, with MBDA leveraging digital-twin models and existing SPEAR system data to accelerate testing and reduce risk. Formal procurement and service entry timelines will depend on customer contracts and integration schedules.

SPEAR Glide positions MBDA to offer European and allied air forces a cost-effective, interoperable precision weapon tailored for the realities of modern, contested warfare: resilient navigation, increased warhead lethality for fixed and semi-hardened targets, and a manufacturing approach that supports large-scale production and national industrial participation. In doing so, the weapon underscores a broader shift in air power thinking — one that treats scalable precision and volume as complementary requirements for future high-intensity conflicts.