Rafael announced on 25 February that it has completed development of the ground-launched variant of its I-Derby Extended Range (ER) air-to-air missile. The company said a ground launch was performed earlier in the week in southern Israel to test the missile's command-and-control, navigation, and flight trajectory capabilities. It released a video showing the missile being launched by a Rafael SPYDER air defence system, which can also use the company's Python short-range air-to-air missile. Unveiled in 2015 the I-Derby is the same shape and size as the earlier Derby, but has a software-controlled radar seeker and a dual-pulse rocket motor that gives it a range of 100 km when used as an air-to-air missile. Rafael says the ground-launched variant "can be integrated almost immediately" into existing SPYDER systems, giving them the ability to engage targets at a range of either 40 km or 80 km when the missile is fitted with a booster: more than double the range of the previous Derby missile.
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