One of the Select Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) programme's first mentions was in the 2005 Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). This vaguely described it as a new munition "planned to address the capability requirement to be able to attack fast-moving targets at range" that was then in its concept phase. The 2005 DIS also highlighted the increased importance of
precision-guided weaponry but also the importance of maintaining the UK's sovereign industrial base for the development for such systems. It discussed how the performance and safety aspects of weapon systems can only be guaranteed if the UK has access to and a complex understanding of a weapon system, something that may not always be possible with systems imported from other nations such as the
United States. This among other advantages of a sovereign complex weapons industry made maintaining this capability of high importance. As such, the DIS outlined planned efforts of rationalisation, government cooperation with industry, and consolidation to strengthen the UK's complex weapons capability. By 2006, this had culminated in Team Complex Weapons, a relationship primarily between
MBDA and the
Ministry of Defence (MoD), and supported by partners such as
Thales, Roxel, and
QinetiQ. By 2006, the SPEAR programme had begun to evolve from a singular munition to instead a portfolio of air-to-surface guided weapons programmes fulfilling five distinct capabilities through either the upgrading of existing precision-guided munitions, or the development new systems: Initially, the SPEAR 3 programme was kept outside of the Team Complex Weapons structure which allowed for companies outside the team to submit offering for SPEAR 3. In 2006,
Lockheed Martin offered the
Surveilling Miniature Attack Cruise Missile (SMACM) but was not taken forward. In the 2010s, Raytheon offered the
Small Diameter Bomb-II (SDB-II) unpowered
glide bomb including the possibility of licensed production at its UK facilities. In March 2016, a SPEAR test missile was successfully launched from a
Eurofighter Typhoon trials aircraft operated by
BAE Systems at the QinetiQ
Aberporth range in
Wales. This test-firing was specifically to test the missile’s airframe, navigation and propulsion systems. The missile transitioned through separation from the aircraft to powered flight before completing a series of manoeuvres, ending in a terminal dive to the desired point of impact. The missile accurately followed the planned trajectory and was well within simulation predictions; all trial objectives were achieved. On 18 March 2016, MBDA's bid for SPEAR 3 program was solidified when the MoD awarded them a £411 million contract for the development of air-launched SPEAR missile for the F-35B. On 18 March 2019, BAE Systems announced that it, alongside Lockheed Martin and MBDA, had been contracted to integrate SPEAR onto the F-35B. In September 2019, MBDA was awarded a technical demonstrator program contract by the
Defence Equipment and Support agency for an
electronic warfare variant of SPEAR for the RAF, incorporating
Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology from
Leonardo. In June 2022, it was revealed that the first live-firing of SPEAR had been delayed until 2023 due to 'technical considerations and programme complexity'. In July 2023, Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) data revealed that the Delivery Confidence Assessment had been downgraded from Amber to Red primarily resulting from “challenges with resourcing sufficient suitably qualified and experienced people across the programme and delivery teams, and within industry”. In September 2023, MBDA was awarded additional funds to fast-track the development of SPEAR-EW from the Ministry of Defence. On 6 September 2024,
Maria Eagle the Minister of State for Defence outlined that SPEAR was now in the demonstration phase. This also came with the announcement that the financial investment in the programme stood at approximately £1.4 billion. In mid-October 2024, the first live-firing of a SPEAR missile took place at the
Vidsel test range in
Sweden. The trial saw a BAE Systems-operated Typhoon test and evaluation aircraft equipped with a modified SPEAR, exchanging a live-warhead with a telemetry unit. The trial successfully demonstrated weapon release at high-speed and high-altitude, as well as long-range free-flight control to a target. On 19 May 2025, it was announced that SPEAR was "undergoing re-baselining" and that delivery timeline for the weapon was now estimated for the early 2030s. On 9 September 2025, despite being a known variant for some time, MBDA officially revealed SPEAR Glide at DSEI 2025, a low-cost unpowered glide-bomb variant primarily targeted at
fourth-generation combat aircraft. == Characteristics ==