MILAN — Poland has announced that it is buying hundreds of Spike tank-killing missiles through Rafael’s longstanding industry partner, Mesko, which will carry out local production of missile parts and final assembly of the weapon.
The Polish Ministry of Defense has awarded a third contract order to the Israeli company for the procurement of the long-range variant of the weapon. The exact number of missiles was not disclosed, but the contract value is said to be near $100 million, according to a statement released by the Israeli vendor.
“Mesko and Rafael have collaborated in working with the Polish market since 2003, allowing for the sale of completely ‘Poland-ized’ missiles provided for the Polish user. … Robust local manufacturing capabilities have provided it with over 3,000 Spike missiles entirely Polish-made,” a Rafael statement reads.
Over the last two decades, Warsaw has assembled an arsenal of nearly 4,000 Spike-type missiles. It placed its first order for 264 long-range launchers and 2,675 missiles in 2003, followed by a second one in 2015 for 1,000 units.
In 2020, Mesko deepened its industrial partnership with Rafael by signing an agreement to co-produce Spike short-range missiles as part of the country’s national Pustelnik program.
At the time, Rafael said that because Mesko had already been producing Spike missile parts and conducting final assembly for several years, the necessary infrastructure was already in place for manufacturing the shorter-range version.
The Polish sales avenue differs from the one taken by other European customers of Spike missiles, whose production process is typically carried out by EuroSpike GmbH in Germany, a joint venture between Diehl Defence, Rheinmetall and Rafael.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.
