F-35B conducts flight test with British SPEAR mini-cruise missile - Breaking Defense

MBDA announced on March 21, 2026 that an F-35B had flight tested the missile. (Lockheed Martin)

BELFAST — An F-35B fighter jet has flight tested the British SPEAR 3 miniature cruise missile for the first time, according to European missile house MBDA.

Announcing the move in a Thursday statement, the manufacturer said that the flight occurred “earlier this year” from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. and involved four of the long-range munitions equipped on the Lockheed Martin-made aircraft. The flight was flown by a UK Royal Navy F-35B test pilot.

MBDA noted that after the flight “data gathered will be examined, and testing will continue in preparation for the first mission systems integration and jettison trials as the next critical integration milestones.”

First flight of the weapon, designed to provide British F-35 jets with a stand off strike capability, comes four years later than originally planned, after an initial delay caused by technical troubles.