User:Licjar Xeymelloz/Select Precision Effects At Range

The Select Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) program is a weapon development program of the United Kingdom that aims to produce and update a series of guided munitions for the Royal Air Force. Since its inception in the early 2000s, the program has evolved and split into 5 different "capabilities", each incrementally increasing in weapon range and shifting from tactical to strategic roles.

Capability 1 and 2 have entered service as Paveway IV and Brimstone 2. For Capability 3, a proposal by MBDA UK has been selected, but is still simply referred to as SPEAR 3 due to a lack of another name. Capability 4 and 5 aim to each upgrade and replace the Storm Shadow stockpile.

History
At the turn of the 21st century, Royal Air Force (RAF) had, in its anti-ground arsenal, cutting-edge Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles. However, as the former was a short-range precision munition while the latter was a stand-off cruise missile, there arose a need for a new intermediate-range solution. SPEAR concept was created as a 50-150km-range anti-ground missile that could fill this gap, with a capability of striking time-critical targets such as mobile launchers. Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35, both in development at the time, were assumed to be the launch platforms for the concept.

The concept was made public in 2001 as a potential requirement. After some basic studies were carried out, the project was formally launched on 2006. It was decided that the project would need two different weapon systems for short-range and medium-range engagements, and this led to the first split of the project into Drop 1 and Drop 2 in 2008. Drop 2 retained the original SPEAR requirements, while Drop 1 became a precision guided bomb. Initial candidates for the Drop 1 included Paveway IV and SDB II.