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SPICE [Smart, Precise Impact and Cost-Effective]

The first documented use of the SPICE 2000 glide bomb in the 2023 Palestinian-Israeli conflict was on 11 October 2023 in the Gaza suburb Khan Yunis. The SPICE family of gliding bombs was developed by the Israeli company Rafael and includes bombs of caliber 250, 1000 and 2000 pounds or 113, 226 and 950 kilograms, respectively. The 113 kg version also has an extended range version, powered by a small turbojet engine.

A few years ago, SPICE 2000 found itself at the center of a scandal after the disastrous episode of their use by the Indian Air Force against a camp of Pakistani militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group. Then three ammunition missed the target at once, their miss was tens of meters, instead of the accuracy declared by the developer of 3-5 meters of average deviation. It is not known what caused the misses - deficiencies in the bomb control system or a malfunction in the American NAVSTAR/GPS satellite navigation system used to guide them.

SPICE [Smart, Precise Impact and Cost-Effective] is a family of stand-off, autonomous, air-to-surface weapon systems that provide affordable precision in a GPS-denied environment. In use since 2003, SPICE is combat-proven and in service with the Israeli Air Force and several other nations worldwide. The SPICE™ Family of stand-off, autonomous, air-to-surface weapon systems enables precision, high-volume strikes in GPS-denied arenas.

Spice-2000 consists of an add-on kit for warheads such as theMK-84, BLU-109, APW and RAP-2000. Spice-1000 consists of an add-on kit for warheads such as the MK-83, BLU-110, I-1000 and RAP-1000. The weapon has unique deployable wings that substantially increase its rangeand facilitate the integration to light fighter aircraft. SPICE 250™ is a next-gen Precision Guided Munition with an advanced data link and a stand-off range of 100km. Capable of hitting stationary, relocatable and moving targets on land and at sea, SPICE 250 uses a common aircraft interface and sophisticated Smart Quad Rack (SQR) with four weapons on each SQR.

Spice has day, night and adverse weather capabilities, based on its Advanced Electro-Optic seeker. The Automatic Target Acquisition capability is implemented by aunique scene-matching technology that is robust to scenery changes, countermeasures, navigation errors and Target Location Errors. Spice navigates autonomously by means of INS/GPS and its seeker provides positive target identification.

SPICE is in use by the Israeli and other air forces worldwide. The SPICE Family is part of a mix of aircraft weaponry. Incorporating the most advanced navigation, guidance and homing technologies ? together with a remarkable scene-matching algorithm and GPS-independence ? they enable autonomous, multiple, precision, high-volume attacks from the safety of significantly extended stand-off ranges.

Laser-guided bombs (LBGs) do not meet today’s most critical needs, since they are released at short ranges, thereby increasing strike force vulnerability to enemy fire. GPS-guided weapons also have their disadvantages, with some delivering stand-off capability, but without immunity to GPS countermeasures.

Providing ultra-smart navigation, guidance, targeting and homing capabilities, RAFAEL's SPICE Guidance Kits are the ideal answer to the challenges faced by today’s combat aircraft. Converting general purpose and penetration warheads weighing 1000 or 2000lbs into precision, stand-off strike weapons with ranges of 60-100km ? they deliver multiple, simultaneous hits with pinpoint accuracy. Advanced EO/IR technologies allow the targeting, acquisition, and autonomous tracking of moving targets, and a scene-matching algorithm enables fully autonomous, GPS-independent missions with mid-flight path adjustment and minimum collateral damage.

Spice guidance kits convert 1000 lb and 2000 lb general-purpose and penetration warheads into precision stand-off strike weapons (Spice-1000 and Spice-2000). Mission planning (in the airor on the ground) uses target data (target coordinates, impactangle and azimuth, imagery and topographical data) in order tocreate a mission for each target. The pilot allocates a mission to each weapon before release. The weapon is released outside the threatened area and heads autonomously towards the target zone. As the weapon approaches the target, Spice's unique scene-matching algorithm compares the electro-optical image received in real-time via the weapon seeker with mission reference data stored in the weapon computer memory and adjusts the flight path accordingly.

In the homing phase, after successful completion of the scene-matching process, Spice acquires the target automatically. The weapon homes in accurately and autonomously to the exact target location in the pre-defined impact angle and azimuth.

Spice is combat-proven in the Israeli Air Force and is in service with leading air forces throughout the world. The system is also being considered by other international customers. Spice is easily carried and operated from single and dual-seater fighter aircraft such as the F-15, F-16, F-18, Tornado, Mirage, Rafale Gripen and Eurofighter. Use of a common aircraft interface and sophisticated weapon software simplify the effort needed for aircraft integration.

On May 16, 2019 Lockheed Martin and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel, signed a teaming agreement to jointly develop, market, manufacture and support Rafael’s SPICE guidance kits for U.S. sale. The teaming agreement covers the SPICE 1000 (1,000 pound/453 kilogram weight class) and SPICE 2000 (2,000 pound/907 kilogram weight class) kit variants. Over 60 percent of SPICE is already manufactured in the U.S. in eight states.

“Access to GPS is becoming increasingly limited in contested environments,” said Mr. Yuval Miller, executive vice president and general manager of Rafael’s Air & C4ISR Division. “SPICE provides a solution to this challenge. Finalizing this exclusive agreement sets the scene for our two companies to provide unmatched mid-range guided air-to-surface weapon systems to enhance mission flexibility and success.”

“SPICE offers the U.S. Department of Defense and many allies a capability that no other weapon currently in inventory provides,” said John Varley, vice president of Close Combat Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “By applying our expertise in aircraft integration, mission planning and tailkit design, along with our experience in affordable streamlined production, we will adapt SPICE to meet U.S. standards so bomber and fighter aircraft can benefit from the added mission flexibility that SPICE offers.”

InJune 2019 Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. reported it had successfully tested and demonstrated a new ATR (Automatic Target Recognition) capability for its SPICE-250 air-to-surface munition. SPICE (250, 1000, 2000) is a family of stand-off, autonomous, air-to-ground weapon systems that attack targets with pinpoint accuracy and at high attack volumes, without depending on GPS navigation in GPS-denied environments.

This new and unique ATR capability is part of SPICE-250’s array of technologies which includes Automatic Target Acquisition (ATA) and Moving-Target-Detection homing modes, all of which are based on autonomous electro-optic Scene-Matching Algorithms. The newly-unveiled ATR feature is a technological breakthrough, enabling SPICE-250 to effectively learn the specific target characteristics ahead of the strike, using advanced AI and deep-learning technologies.

During flight, the pilot selects the target type to be attacked and allocates a target to each weapon. The weapons are launched towards the vicinity of the targets, using their INS for initial navigation. When approaching the target area, the weapons use the ATR mode for detection and recognition of the targets. Each weapon homes-in on the pre-defined target, either autonomously or with a human-in-the-loop, aided by the ATR algorithm.

The combination of the increased loadout of SPICE-250, the unique homing methods for various scenarios, and the effective 75kg warhead, enables a high volume, autonomous and precise strike capability against multiple target types, with an assured very low collateral damage. SPICE-250 uses a common aircraft interface and sophisticated Smart Quad Rack (SQR) which simplifies the effort needed for aircraft integration. Four SPICE-250 weapons are carried on each SQR. SPICE-250 can be directly mounted on light attack aircraft store stations, thanks to its small size and light weight.

SPICE-250 has a standoff range of 100 kilometers, and can be equipped with either general purpose or penetration 75kg class warhead. SPICE is combat-proven with the Israeli Air Force and in operational service with a number of international customers.