A soldier carrying the L-Spike 1x loitering munition from Rafael.

Rafael unveils L-Spike 1x – a new loitering munition

Rafael has expanded its loitering munition and tactical precision strike profile with L-Spike 1x, a new loitering munition designed to support the organic firepower of infantry formations.

BLUF: 

  • Rafael’s new loitering munition builds on existing technology to provide companies with organic tactical precision strike. 
  • Tactical precision strike has been an emerging and growing need for over a decade. Its utility has been thrown into sharp relief by the fighting in Ukraine. 

Hot on the heels of its launch of the L-Spike 4X, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has unveiled L-Spike 1x, a rotary wing loitering munition designed for company level use. Leveraging the technology in the company’s earlier Spike Firefly, the company states it is “capable of operating under navigation-denied conditions such as GPS jamming or spoofing, communication disruptions, and harsh weather.”

It is a coaxial design, which means it uses two rotor blades one above the other, which is a similar design to the Pholos from the UK’s Overwatch. This configuration has a number of benefits including its ability to take off vertically from most locations, including from under tree cover. It can also hover over a target, which fixed wing loitering munitions cannot do, they must keep moving to stay airborne. These design features lend themselves well to the company and tactical level. 

It is also described as a retrievable and reusable munition in the November 19th press release, meaning that it does not have to be used if a target is not found. The range of the munition is 5 km and it has an endurance of 15 minutes when armed, or 30 minutes unarmed. 

It has a total weight of 2.2 kg and creates a 360 degree area of fragmentation when it detonates its 420 gram warhead. The sensor suite includes thermal and daylight cameras as well as AI-enabled target tracking. This indicates it is designed for the anti-personnel role. Safety is encapsulated in the design, with a Rafael representative stating, “we can proudly say that this retrievable and reusable munition has, despite intensive operational use, maintained a flawless safety record and not a single safety incident has occurred to date.”

The loitering munition field is becoming very competitive, with many different companies providing solutions within different segments of the capability. This appears to have pushed some of the more established players like AeroVironment to offer new variants of existing and proven platforms, as well as produce new types.

For AeroVironment at least, it has secured large contracts from the US and its allies in the past year. However, new players like Neros – which offers what is essentially a very similar capability – also look set to secure a significant share of the US market in the near future. 

Calibre comment: Tactical precision strike

Precision strike capabilities that are organic to an infantry company or below have led the development of loitering munitions. Starting in Afghanistan in 2011, infantry units found that they could be pinned down and engaged from ranges beyond their own organic firepower. Responding with a JDAM to the building or area that the fire came from was unacceptable, so the Switchblade was developed and produced to enable suppressed infantry to engage lone gunmen or small targets. The need now is very similar; if an infantry unit becomes bogged down by an adversary, a loitering munition can be deployed and used in a fraction of the time that it would take to deploy a helicopter, aircraft, or artillery. The effects are also likely to be much more targeted and precise than any other means, limiting collateral damage. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on November 22nd, 2025. The lead image shows the L-Spike 1x being carried by a soldier. Credit: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

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