From its first guided shot just over a decade ago to a 2015 folding fin demonstration, the home-grown Spike missile programme at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division continues to use in-house developments and warfighter input to make improvements to get the missile into the hands of sailors and marines in the face of growing unmanned aerial vehicle concerns.

During a December 2016 test at China Lake, the Spike team twice demonstrated the capability of the missile to shoot down an outlaw UAV with one shot.

“The team worked really hard to get us to the point where everything was smooth,” said Spike Project Manager Gavin Swanson. “Come test day, there wasn’t anything in our way.”