An MQ-9 Reaper of the 163d Attack Wing takes off at March Air Reserve Base, California, 9 July 2026. The MQ-9 Reaper is the baseline of the MQ-9B family named in this assessment; the image is illustrative. Photo: Senior Master Sgt. Julianne Sitterding, U.S. Air Force (DVIDS, public domain). Appearance of U.S. Department of Defense visual information does not imply endorsement.

MBDA to Integrate SPEAR Miniature Cruise Missile onto MQ-9B and Gambit 6 Uncrewed Aircraft

MBDA and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems signed a memorandum of understanding at the Farnborough International Airshow on 21 July 2026 to integrate the SPEAR family of miniature cruise missiles onto the MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft and the Gambit 6 collaborative combat aircraft. SPEAR 3 is a sub-90 kilogram, turbojet powered, multi-effect precision weapon quoted at beyond 140 kilometres of range.

Technical Summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and MBDA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Farnborough International Airshow 2026 on 21 July, committing the two companies to integrate MBDA's SPEAR precision strike weapon onto GA-ASI aircraft. The named platforms are the MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and the Gambit 6 collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), an uncrewed type optimised for attack roles including electronic warfare (EW), suppression and destruction of enemy air defences (SEAD and DEAD) and stand-off precision strike. The agreement extends an existing relationship: MBDA previously integrated its Brimstone missile onto the Royal Air Force Protector RG Mk1, the UK variant of the MQ-9B. GA-ASI states the MQ-9B is in service or on order with close to a dozen nations, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Poland.

SPEAR, in its SPEAR 3 surface-attack form, is MBDA's air-launched miniature cruise missile and the United Kingdom's next-generation air-to-surface weapon. It is designed to deliver a low collateral precision effect while allowing a high weapon load-out for mission persistence, and to strike beyond the horizon so the launch platform can remain outside hostile air defences. The weapon first flew from an F-35B in May 2026, and open-source reporting now assesses its service entry for the early 2030s. Baseline open-source parameters are summarised below.

Integrating the innovative capability of SPEAR multiplies the effect these platforms provide into decisive operational advantage. Chris Allam, Managing Director, MBDA UK

Analysis of Effects

The value of this pairing is magazine depth combined with reach. A weapon under 90 kilograms lets a single MQ-9B carry several rounds where a heavier missile would allow only one or two, so an uncrewed platform can hold multiple aim points at risk across a long sortie. SPEAR 3 sits a class above the Brimstone already flown on Protector: Brimstone is a direct-attack weapon at ranges near 60 kilometres, whereas SPEAR is a turbojet powered cruise weapon quoted beyond 140 kilometres, allowing the launch aircraft to stay well outside point air defences. The multi-effect warhead and multi-mode seeker let one round address armour, structures or soft targets, which reduces the number of distinct natures a mission has to carry.

Putting that weapon on the Gambit 6 changes the arithmetic further. An attritable CCA tasked with SEAD, DEAD and stand-off strike becomes a forward magazine that a commander can risk in defended airspace without hazarding a crew. The two-way data link supports in-flight retargeting and coordinated, many-on-one engagements, which is the mechanism behind the current interest in affordable mass. The important qualifier is programme maturity: this is a memorandum of understanding, a statement of intent, and SPEAR 3 itself is not yet in service, so the effect described here is a capability being shaped rather than one available today.

There is also a family dimension the memorandum does not yet address. MBDA is developing SPEAR-EW, an electronic-warfare member built on the same airframe that swaps the warhead and seeker for a Leonardo jamming payload derived from the BriteCloud expendable decoy and its Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology. On a platform optimised for SEAD and DEAD, a mixed load of kinetic SPEAR 3 and SPEAR-EW would let one uncrewed aircraft both blind a radar and strike it from a common airframe and logistics chain. That pairing is a logical next step rather than a stated part of this agreement.

Personnel and Safety Considerations

SPEAR is a complete air-launched guided weapon, so the handling regime is that of a powered missile rather than a bomb. It combines a hydrocarbon-fuelled turbojet with a warhead, its energetics and one or more electro-explosive devices (EED) for arming and functioning, which sets requirements for electromagnetic hazard control, stray-voltage discipline and carriage-and-release safety certification on each host platform. Carriage on uncrewed and attritable aircraft, and storage in quantity, raise the importance of insensitive munition (IM) compliance under STANAG 4439 and Allied Ordnance Publication 39 (AOP-39), so that a hit or fire on a loaded platform does not cause a violent reaction. As a packaged store the missile would carry a Hazard Division (HD) classification, most plausibly 1.1 or 1.2 depending on warhead Net Explosive Quantity (NEQ) and fuze design, though the specific serial is not published.

Data Gaps

The warhead NEQ, the exact selectable effect modes and the fuze configuration are not disclosed, and neither is confirmation of which SPEAR variant is intended, the baseline SPEAR 3 or the SPEAR-EW electronic-warfare member of the family. Integration funding, the timeline for clearance on each host aircraft, and the planned number of rounds per platform were not stated at announcement. The IM qualification status against STANAG 4439 and any export-release constraints for the wider MQ-9B operator community are also unconfirmed. These items are recorded as gaps rather than estimated.

Corrections & updates welcome. If you hold open-source data that refines or corrects any parameter in this article, please contact [email protected] citing the specific claim and your source. Verified corrections will be incorporated and credited in the revision history. AI-assisted technical assessment based on open-source material. Not a formal intelligence product.