Thailand, Israel Collaborate to Produce “SPIKE” Missiles

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The Defense Technology Institute (DTI), a research agency under the Ministry of Defense of Thailand, has signed an agreement with an Israeli defense company to produce the “SPIKE” guided missile system in Southeast Asia.

 The Israeli defense company that signed the agreement with DTI is Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

This was announced by officials from Rafael and DTI to international defense portal, Janes, during the Defense & Security 2023 exhibition currently taking place in Bangkok.

The agreement will involve technology transfer between both parties and the production of components of the guided missile system in Thailand.

Under the agreement, two variants of the Israeli-made guided missile system, Spike Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) and Spike Extended Range (ER), will be produced in Thailand.

“If the cooperation under the first phase is successful, we will move on to the second phase, where we will further enhance technology transfer and production,” said a senior DTI official to the international defense portal.

However, he also mentioned that the cooperation between DTI and Rafael from Israel depends on the Thai Armed Forces acquiring more of the guided missile systems.

If the Thai Armed Forces decide to acquire more of these guided missile systems, then DTI and Rafael will establish a joint venture to manufacture the guided missile system in Thailand.

In late 2020, Thailand signed an agreement with Rafael from Israel to acquire the “SPIKE MR” guided missile system produced by the Israeli company.

 The acquisition of the anti-tank guided missile Spike MR (Medium Range) by the Thai army was carried out after a selection process and is used by military personnel from the Thai Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

 The Spike MR guided missile is an electro-optical fire-and-forget system capable of hitting targets up to 2.5 kilometers away.

As claimed by the weapon manufacturer, the anti-tank guided missile Spike is a popular system among foreign countries (countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel).

 According to Rafael, Spike is now used by 35 countries, including 19 NATO member countries, and over 33,000 guided missiles have already been sold.

The selection of Spike guided missiles by the Thai military further confirms the prevalence of Israeli defense weapons in Asia and Southeast Asia. – DSA