Rafael's SPICE 1000TM Received the Israel Defense Prize For The Top Weapon System Which Were Also Used By India During Balakot Strike

At a festive ceremony held on Tuesday, the President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benjamin Netanyahu, and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, awarded the Israel Defense Prize to projects and operations that contributed to the security of Israel and to its qualitative military edge and technological superiority. 

The Indian Air Force has signed a Rs 300 crore deal to procure a batch of SPICE 2000 guided bombs. The IAF had used SPICE bombs in its strikes on a terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26. SPICE 2000 had a glide range of around 60 km and used a sophisticated guided system — including inertial navigation, satellite guidance and electro-optical sensors, for accuracy to strike at the Terrorist camp in Balakot.  

India is developing  an indigenously-made 500-kg class “inertial guided bomb” which was test fired from a Sukhoi jet at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan in May. The test has been pegged as a major achievement for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as the guided bomb achieved the desired range and also hit its target with precision.

The Israel Defense Prize for 2019 was awarded to the men and women involved in the following projects: RAFAEL’s SPICE 1000TM weapon system, the campaign to expose Hezbollah tunnels in the north, the Mossad operation in an Iranian nuclear archive, and a technological development project of the Israel Security Agency (ISA).

SPICE 1000TM is part of RAFAEL's wider air-to-surface SPICE Family (250, 1000, 2000) of stand-off, autonomous, air-to-ground weapon systems that attack targets with pinpoint accuracy and at high attack volumes, without depending on GPS navigation in GPS-denied environments. SPICE is combat-proven with the Israeli Air Force and is in operational service with a number of international users.

A retired IAF official, who did not wish to be identified, said: “Such a weapon can be fired even without a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) input, denial of which is a high possibility in emerging forms of warfare.”

During the award ceremony, President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin said : “The role of the defense establishment and the civilian industries that accompany it is to be the invisible defensive wall that pushes conflict behind enemy lines, and allow us citizens to continue to go about our daily lives. This is the reason we invest so heavily in creative and ground-breaking technological development. I want to thank you and your families for the exhausting and dedicated work, and for the endless effort you have invested and continue to invest.”

Israel’s Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Benjamin Netanyahu remarked: “We will always defend ourselves. And our true force is in the minds and hearts that are present here. You, the winners of the Israel Defense Prize, have made a fundamental contribution to our defense and deterrence. You have all done an excellent job. Go forth and succeed in ensuring the eternity of our nation.”