Rafael, Lockheed accelerate SPICE 1000 integration on Israeli F‑35s
Both the SPICE 1000 and SPICE 250 have been employed in the long‑range missions against Iran and Yemen
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Lockheed Martin are collaborating to speed up the process of integrating SPICE 1000 onto the Israeli Air Force's F-35 Adir stealth fighters. The joint venture is taking place at Lockheed Martin's facilities in the United States. Rafael announced this during the AFA's Air Space & Cyber conference in Washington.
The SPICE 1000 missile is expected to be a significant addition to the F-35's arsenal, with its integration detailed in the Pentagon's F-35 Modernized Selected Acquisition Report published in early August. The report highlighted that SPICE 1000 continues to progress with a strategy to accelerate its implementation via a SPICE Lite process.
SPICE is a family of electro-optically guided tactical stand-off strike weapons. The SPICE 1000, the heaviest variant, has a 2,000-pound warhead and can glide up to 60 kilometers. The SPICE 1000 kit boasts a stand-off range of 125 km and a circular error probable (CEP) of 3 meters. The SPICE family of weapons has been used extensively in Yemen and during Operation Rising Lion and Operation Roaring Lion in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
While the Israeli Air Force has not commented extensively on the operational use of SPICE 1000, Israeli videos have shown it in use during Operation Roaring Lion. The SPICE 1000 has been sold to several countries and has been a primary munition for the Israeli Air Force for several years, including in long-range operations flown from F-15 and F-16 aircraft.
The SPICE 1000 will be carried in the internal weapons bay of the F-35 TR-3 platforms, providing Israel with its qualitative military edge. The Block 4 modernization of the F-35, which includes over 70 major upgrades, will provide the aircraft with advanced capabilities, increased missile capacity, and improved target recognition, allowing future F-35s, including Israeli Adirs, to carry more next-generation missiles such as the SPICE 1000.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
