The Philippine Navy through Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) successfully tested its Spike ER missile during a military exercise recently held off Salkulakit Island in Basilan, the military announced Saturday.

The missile was launched from one of the multi-purpose attack crafts (MPAC) of the 3rd Boat Attack Division during naval surface fire support (NSFS) events on Thursday.

For the exercise, floating targets were constructed for the live-firing exercise. The missile hit its target dead center from a distance of 4 kilometers, according to the Navy.

Besides missile firing, participating warships also fired and tested their naval guns.

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The test was part of the 5-day Pagsisikap 2021 naval exercise, which aims to test wartime and peacetime doctrines in the conduct of amphibious operations, maritime interdiction operations, surveillance and reconnaissance of the maritime areas, civil-military operations, and a host of other traditional and non- traditional naval operations.

The Spike ER Missile is the navy's first missile capable of penetrating 1,000-mm (39 inches) of rolled homogeneous armor.

It is a flexible missile system proven by its dual guidance system that is the command and homing guidance, capable of hitting targets at a maximum distance of 8 kilometers.

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This is the second time the Spike ER missile was successfully launched and tested after its delivery to the Navy from Israel in 2018.

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However, this is the first time that the missile was operationally tested during a live-firing exercise.