Army receives OK to field Israeli-made long-range missile on helicopters

ARLINGTON, TX -- The Army has been approved to field an Israeli-made, long-range missile on attack helicopters, according to a senior service official.

Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, director of the Future Vertical Lift cross-functional team, told reporters this week during an aircraft demonstration at Bell Flight in Texas the Army Requirements Oversight Council will allow the service to field Rafael's Spike Non-Line-of-Sight missiles.

"We still have to get the long-range precision munition requirement, but we did AROC successfully the Spike NLOS missile on a directed requirement for an interim capability," Rugen said.

Rugen added there will be limited fielding of the missiles, but it is "premature to talk numbers yet."