On October 23, a third shipment of assistance, directed by President Biden to Ukraine, arrived in Ukraine. This shipment contains lethal assistance, including additional Javelin anti-armor systems, for the front line defenders of Ukraine. This donation demonstrates the continued United States commitment to enabling Ukraine to more effectively defend itself against Russia’s aggression, as does more than $400 million USD this year and $2.5 billion in total support to Ukraine’s armed forces since 2014. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said in a statement on that shortly after Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin’s successful travel to Ukraine.
On June 16, as part of a pilot project under the US Government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, Ukraine Armed Forces received the first consignment of cargo under the contract signed in December 2019, namely missiles for FGM-148E Javelin anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) systems and auxiliary equipment totalling more than $ 27 million. FGM-148E missiles which are one of the latest modifications of Javelin system’s anti-tank missiles were delivered for the needs of the Ukraine Armed Forces. Delivery of other military goods in accordance with the agreements will be provided in 2021 – 2022.
The FGM-148 Javelin is an American man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile fielded to replace the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. It uses automatic infrared guidance that allows the user to seek cover immediately after launch, as opposed to wire-guided systems, like the Dragon, which require the user to actively guide the weapon throughout the engagement. It can reach a peak altitude of 150 m (500 ft) in top-attack mode and 60 m (190 ft) in direct-fire mode.
The system takes a top-attack flight profile against armored vehicles (attacking the top armor, which is generally thinner), but can also take a direct-attack mode for use against buildings, targets inside the minimum top-attack engagement range, and targets under obstructions. The missile also has the ability to engage helicopters in the direct attack mode. It is equipped with an imaging infrared seeker. The tandem warhead is fitted with two shaped charges: a precursor warhead to detonate any explosive reactive armor and a primary warhead to penetrate base armor.
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