Four SPEAR 3 missiles were carried on board an F-35B from the Integrated Test Force at NAS Patuxent River earlier this year, marking the first time that the new weapon has flown on the fifth generation aircraft.
The long awaited news of SPEAR 3’s first flight test on the F-35B – which took place on Jan. 20, 2026 – comes just days after the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed plans to acquire the GBU-53/B StormBreaker, or SDB II, as an interim capability due to delays with SPEAR 3’s integration. SPEAR 3, developed by MBDA UK, is a 100 kg class munition with a range in excess of 140 km.
Delays with SPEAR 3’s integration have been sharply criticized by the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO). Without the weapon, the UK F-35B force’s strike capability is limited to only the capable but relatively short range Paveway IV guided bomb (which was developed under the SPEAR 1, or Selective Precision Effects At Range Capability 1, program).
As well as the UK’s F-35Bs, which are operated as a joint force by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, SPEAR 3 is also slated for use by Italy.
Image of an F-35, seen here with a SPEAR 3 air-to-surface mini cruise missile in the foreground pic.twitter.com/P47iM4QV4M
— Think Defence (@thinkdefence) April 6, 2025
The test flight was flown by Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Nick Baker, who previously made headlines as the first British pilot to land an F-35B on board a Japanese warship. Baker is currently assigned to the Royal Air Force’s Air and Space Warfare Centre research and development unit, from which he has been deployed to support the F-35 Integrated Test Force unit at Patuxent River (also known as Pax River).
RN F-35B pilot Nick Baker has been helping the @jmsdf_pao_eng enter the Lightning era.⚡
He’s a test pilot with the US-led team conducting pioneering trials on the Japanese flagship Kaga. 🇬🇧 🇯🇵 🇺🇸
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) January 21, 2025
“As a team, we have been working hard toward this key milestone, and I’m proud to say SPEAR 3 has now flown on F-35B,” said RAF Corporal Daniel Housden, who has been closely involved in the test program. “I look forward to continuing with testing at the F-35 ITF and starting preparations for the first ejections.”
“Much of this effort is owed to the outstanding work of the combined UK government and industry weapons team, U.S. government and industry partners,” said Dan Shelton, F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) UK/Italy weapons integration program manager. “The team’s exceptional collaboration was essential in navigating the complexities of this program, allowing us to work through every challenge and deliver results.”
Future trials will see the weapon’s integration into the F-35’s mission systems, culminating in the first SPEAR 3 weapon drops from the F-35B. Live fire trials from Typhoon FGR4 aircraft, also due to carry the weapon, have been in progress for some time.
Interesting timing as the release of the UK’s Defence Investment Plan looms, and after the recent announcement of an interim fix using the Small Diameter Bomb. Unfortunately, the timeline for SPEAR 3 is still years away. https://t.co/9HeMratJpB
— Greg Bagwell (@gregbagwell) May 22, 2026
Full service entry on the F-35B is expected in the early 2030s.
SPEAR 3
SPEAR 3’s long road to the frontline began in the mid 2010s, with the selection of MBDA’s proposal to meet the demands of the SPEAR 3 project. The missile is actually branded by MBDA simply as SPEAR, although it is commonly known as SPEAR 3 to differentiate it from the other SPEAR projects.
SPEAR 1, as stated previously, saw the development of the Paveway IV. SPEAR 2 spawned upgrades to MBDA’s smaller Brimstone missile. SPEAR 4 involves upgrades to Storm Shadow, while SPEAR 5 has now evolved into the STRATUS missile program.
ORCHESTRIKE, MBDA’s artificial intelligence for collabotive strikes, will be found on both SPEAR 3 and STRATUS LO (ex TP15, the subsonic stand off missile of the Future Cruise Anti Ship Weapon programme), a written answer confirms. pic.twitter.com/l5S8WGjIi8
— Gabriele Molinelli (@Gabriel64869839) September 19, 2025
Eight SPEAR 3 missiles will be able to be carried internally on the F-35B. External carry should, in theory, be possible, but does not appear to be a focus of the current integration process. Even with just the internal load of eight, an F-35B would be able to carry more weapons than it currently can even with a full mixed internal and external load of Paveway IVs.
MBDA is also working on variants of SPEAR 3, including SPEAR-EW – specifically tailored to the suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) mission with addition of an electronic warfare (EW) payload in place of the warhead. SPEAR-EW would be used in concert with regular SPEAR munitions to disrupt and then destroy hostile air defences.
SPEAR-EW, will have an interesting future I think pic.twitter.com/lq6DXQP0yc
— Think Defence (@thinkdefence) September 4, 2024
An unpowered glide weapon, known as SPEAR Glide, is also in the works. By removing the turbojet powerplant and its associated fuel, SPEAR Glide sacrifices range in favor of a larger warhead capable of successful attacks against hardened targets.
