U.S. Army M2 Bradley Could Gain Rafael SPIKE LR2 Anti-Tank Firepower Without Replacing Its TOW Launcher.

Rafael USA and Leonardo DRS are positioning the new Multi-Purpose Missile Launcher (MPML) as a potentially major firepower upgrade for U.S. Bradley and other TOW-equipped combat vehicles, giving them access to the advanced SPIKE LR2 anti-tank missile without replacing their proven launcher architecture. Unveiled by Leonardo DRS on October 14, 2026, the field-reconfigurable system could allow armored units to switch between TOW and SPIKE LR2 while avoiding major vehicle modifications, expanding missile choice and precision anti-armor capability while preserving existing logistics and readiness.

Leonardo DRS and Rafael USA are advancing a launcher upgrade that could enable U.S. Army Bradley fighting vehicles to fire SPIKE LR2 anti-tank missiles while retaining compatibility with existing TOW weapons (Picture Source: Leonardo DRS / Army Recognition Group)

Rafael USA and Leonardo DRS are advancing a potentially significant new path for strengthening the anti-armor firepower of U.S. ground combat vehicles without forcing the Army to abandon its established TOW launcher architecture. Leonardo DRS formally introduced its Multi-Purpose Missile Launcher, or MPML, on October 14, 2026, describing a field-reconfigurable solution capable of employing Rafael’s SPIKE LR2 while retaining TOW compatibility. For Bradley, Stryker and other TOW-equipped platforms, the concept offers something increasingly valuable on the modern battlefield: greater lethality and missile choice without a disruptive vehicle redesign.

MPML Converts a Proven TOW Architecture into a Dual-Missile Gateway

At the center of the concept is Leonardo DRS’s MPML, designed as a drop-in evolution of existing vehicle-mounted TOW launcher technology rather than an entirely new weapon installation. The system combines a lightweight TOW-based launcher, two SPIKE LR2 adapter assemblies and a Common Missile Control Unit, or CMCU, that manages the electronics, software, missile selection, firing and guidance functions required by the different weapons. Leonardo DRS says the launcher can be field-reconfigured between TOW and SPIKE LR2 without special tools while producing no net impact on the platform’s overall size, weight, power, cooling or onboard missile-stowage requirements compared with the legacy TOW-only installation.

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The company also emphasizes that MPML leverages the established Upgraded TOW Missile Launcher design and supply chain, an important consideration for a force seeking modernization without sacrificing readiness or established sustainment infrastructure. The CMCU is particularly significant because the SPIKE integration goes beyond a simple mechanical adapter. Leonardo DRS has concentrated TOW and SPIKE electronics and software inside a MOSA-aligned control architecture with Ethernet and RS-422 communications and MIL-STD-1275-compliant vehicle power. That approach could reduce dependence on a single missile family while easing integration of additional compatible effectors in the future.

The result is not simply the replacement of an older missile with a newer one. It creates access to two distinct anti-armor missile families through a common launcher architecture. TOW remains a mature heavy anti-tank and precision-assault weapon with an extensive U.S. operational, training and logistical footprint, while SPIKE LR2 introduces a fifth-generation electro-optical capability built around infrared and high-resolution daylight sensing, multispectral tracking and a real-time fiber-optic data link. Rafael lists a ground-launched range of up to 5.5 kilometers and multiple operating modes, including fire-and-forget, fire-and-observe and fire-to-target-coordinate engagements. SPIKE LR2 also supports selectable attack trajectories, non-line-of-sight engagements, operator retargeting and mid-flight mission abort.

Bradley and Stryker Gain Capability Without a Turret Redesign

For the U.S. Army, the most consequential aspect of MPML may be what does not need to change. Leonardo DRS specifically identifies Bradley and Stryker vehicles among the intended platforms and says the system is aimed at customers seeking expanded missile choices without significant platform modifications. The architecture avoids the much more expensive and disruptive proposition of replacing the complete launcher or fundamentally rebuilding the turret simply to introduce another anti-armor weapon. Instead, the existing TOW-based architecture becomes the foundation for incremental lethality growth, preserving vehicles, launcher interfaces, training investments and support infrastructure already in service.

That approach also carries an important American industrial and sustainment dimension. TOW remains firmly embedded in the U.S. force structure, with the Army identifying Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Stryker ATGM vehicles and HMMWV-mounted systems among its principal launch platforms. In 2023, the Army awarded a $322.5 million production and support contract with a ceiling of $400 million for the weapon system. MPML offers a pragmatic modernization model: introduce a new precision effector without prematurely discarding an industrial, logistical and operational ecosystem in which the United States has invested for decades.

The tactical implications are equally important. A vehicle able to preserve TOW compatibility while gaining access to SPIKE LR2 gives commanders greater freedom in ammunition planning, stockpile management and mission preparation. TOW could remain available for engagements suited to its established direct-fire employment, while SPIKE LR2 could be allocated to targets requiring greater stand-off distance, alternative attack geometry, engagement from defilade or positive electro-optical control during missile flight. Rafael states that SPIKE LR2 is resistant to GPS and RF jamming and relies on electro-optical guidance and a fiber-optic data link rather than GPS navigation for its core engagement process. That does not make any weapon immune to countermeasures, but it gives U.S. formations greater diversity in how precision effects can be delivered in an electronically contested battlespace.

Two Missile Families, One Launcher Architecture: Tactical and Strategic Payoff

Strategically, MPML becomes even more significant when viewed against the U.S. Army’s Close Combat Missile System-Heavy, or CCMS-H, ambitions. Leonardo DRS explicitly identifies MPML as providing a backward-compatible pathway toward next-generation CCMS-H capability. In its 2022 request for information, the Army sought a future heavy missile suitable for integration with currently fielded TOW ground systems and stated that preserving the TOW form factor could allow continued use of more than 4,000 fielded TOW launchers, a figure reported by the Army at the time of the RFI rather than a confirmed 2026 inventory total. The desired CCMS-H characteristics included multiple guidance modes, attacks on armored threats in defilade, operation in electronic-warfare-contested environments, shoot-on-the-move capability, cooperative engagements using off-platform sensors and two-way communications.

That does not mean SPIKE LR2 has been selected as the Army’s definitive CCMS-H solution, nor should it be assumed to satisfy every future requirement. The broader strategic value lies in the launcher architecture itself. Leonardo DRS describes MPML as having a growth path toward compatible loitering anti-armor munitions and other missile systems, potentially transforming the launcher from a TOW-specific mechanism into a more adaptable precision-effects interface. If matured, qualified and adopted, such an architecture could allow Bradley, Stryker and future U.S. combat vehicles to change weapons faster than they change turrets. For American armored formations confronting increasingly sophisticated armor, active-protection systems, drones, electronic warfare and dispersed targets, that ability to preserve the platform while rapidly evolving the effector could become a significant battlefield advantage.

MPML offers the United States a modernization model centered on battlefield choice rather than wholesale replacement. By preserving TOW capability while opening the same launcher architecture to Rafael’s more advanced SPIKE LR2, Leonardo DRS is proposing a way to increase the reach, precision and tactical adaptability of Bradley, Stryker and other TOW-equipped platforms while limiting disruption to vehicles already in service. Just as importantly, its open architecture leaves space for additional missiles and compatible loitering munitions in the future.

The larger strategic question may not be whether SPIKE LR2 simply replaces TOW, but whether the United States can transform its extensive TOW launcher ecosystem into an adaptable weapons architecture capable of accepting successive generations of precision effectors. No U.S. Army fleet-wide acquisition has been announced, and any fielding decision will depend on testing, qualification, requirements and procurement priorities. Yet MPML demonstrates a compelling approach to American ground-force modernization: preserve proven platforms and their industrial support base, protect previous investment, and insert new lethality at the launcher and munition level rather than waiting for an entirely new combat vehicle to deliver it.

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Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.