DSEI 2025: MBDA Introduces New Cost-Effective SPEAR GLIDE

At DSEI 2025 MBDA introduced their latest air to ground munition. Derived from the company’s more sophisticated Spear missile, the Spear Glide is positioned as a cheaper and scalable munition which, while not as capable or sophisticated as Spear, could be well placed to meet demand in a wartime situation.

Instead of an RF seeker the new munition utilises an electro-optic/infrared seeker that uses image-based navigation and terminal guidance making it able to operate effectively in GNSS-denied environments and a Semi-Active Laser seeker allowing it to engage laser designated targets.

Spear Glide can engage static or moving targets and is envisioned as a key component to missions to suppress enemy air defenses.
The simpler design of Spear Glide allows high-rate production using commercial off-the-shelf components and alternative production lines – leaving established production lines for more complex munitions.

The Spear Glide lacks the Spear’s turbojet and instead has a kinetic penetrator warhead which incorporates a quantity of high explosive. This positions it as a munition for use against hardened structures. Due to the intrinsic design choices made to meet requirements for a cheap, mass-produced munition MDBA see multiple Spear Glides being used to engage targets. Spear Glide adds mass alongside the more sophisticated Spear and Spear EW missiles.

Spear Glide is less than 2 meters long and has a mass under 100kg. It exploits existing Spear launcher systems and has an estimated range of approximately 110km, though this has not yet been confirmed by MBDA.

Speaking to MBDA representatives at DSEI, OVD learned that the company considered Spear Glide to be a mature concept with development continuing and awaiting a launch customer.