As such, the DIS outlined planned efforts of rationalisation, government cooperation with industry, and consolidation to strengthen the UK's complex weapons capability.

[9] By 2006, this had culminated in Team Complex Weapons, a relationship primarily between MBDA and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and supported by partners such as Thales, Roxel, and QinetiQ.

[3][10] By 2006, the SPEAR programme had begun to evolve from a singular munition to instead a portfolio of air-to-surface guided weapons programmes fulfilling five distinct capabilities through either the upgrading of existing precision-guided munitions, or the development new systems:[2][3] The requirements for SPEAR 3 were identified initially from the RAFs experience during the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo with shortfalls in engaging time-sensitive targets that were mobile and manoeuvrable.

By 2015, this had evolved to become a low-collateral weapon with high accuracy at all times and in all weather conditions whilst in theatres with restrictive rules of engagement and that had sufficient range to 'stand-off' outside the effective envelope of the latest integrated air defence systems.

[3][12] In the 2010s, Raytheon offered the Small Diameter Bomb-II (SDB-II) unpowered glide bomb including the possibility of licensed production at its UK facilities.

[2][3] In 2012, it was announced that Pratt & Whitney AeroPower had been contracted to provide propulsion technical assistance for MBDA's SPEAR 3 proposal, as well as the supply of a derivation of its TJ-150 turbojet for the weapon.

[11] In 2015, Raytheon considered developing a powered SDB-II variant with a turbojet, or alternatively, developing a weaponised variant of the ADM-160 MALD (Miniature Air-Launched Decoy) with both options as likely counters to MBDA's competing powered-weapon design by offering a lower-capability weapon system, but that was more mature, had a lower-cost and that could be produced sooner given the active production line of the standard SDB-II in the US.

[13] In March 2016, a SPEAR test missile was successfully launched from a Eurofighter Typhoon trials aircraft operated by BAE Systems at the QinetiQ Aberporth range in Wales.

The missile transitioned through separation from the aircraft to powered flight before completing a series of manoeuvres, ending in a terminal dive to the desired point of impact.

[15] In September 2019, MBDA was awarded a technical demonstrator program contract by the Defence Equipment and Support agency for an electronic warfare variant of SPEAR for the RAF, incorporating Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology from Leonardo.

[24] This with a multimode seeker head for terminal guidance which includes millimetric wave radar, infrared homing, and semi-active laser modes.

[3] The weapon is propelled by a Hamilton Sundstrand TJ-150 turbojet (the same engine as used in the JSOW-ER and MALD) which when combined with a folding wing kit and three deployable tail-fins, provides an engagement range reportedly in excess of 140 kilometres (87 mi).

[35][36] SPEAR-EW maintains the same dimensions as SPEAR, but with an enlarged fuel capacity and the removal of the warhead and seeker to accommodate an electronic warfare payload derived from Leonardo UK's BriteCloud countermeasure.