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The United States State Department has approved a US$125.13 million foreign military sale of Javelin missiles to the United Kingdom government.
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The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale, with the United Kingdom requesting to purchase up to 600 Javelin FGM-148F missiles including 12 fly-to-buy missiles.
The contract also includes US government technical assistance and other logistics support to support the UK integrate the Javelin capability into the UK Armed Forces.
Javelin is the result of a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles & Defence — Javelin has been used extensively in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. US and coalition forces have used the Javelin in more than 5,000 engagements since its deployment in 1996.
David Pantano, Javelin Joint Venture vice-president and Lockheed Martin Javelin program director, said of the most recent “'F” variant, "“The F-Model combines multiple features such as blast fragmentation and high-explosive anti-tank into a single warhead. We’re helping prepare our warfighters for any mission by reducing the need for different rounds for different targets.”
With orders for more than 45,000 Javelin missiles, the system is expected to be in the US military’s operational inventory through 2050. As such, Javelin is subject to continual upgrades to retain overmatch against emerging threats and to support evolving operational needs.
Australia also operates the Javelin weapon system — the system also offers the Australian infantry soldier the capability to destroy slow-moving or hovering rotary wing aircraft or fortifications. Combat arms units employ Javelin as a dismounted shoulder-fired weapon. Javelin may be fitted to vehicle platforms.
Targets are engaged by locking on to their heat signature and once fired, there is no further requirement to guide the missile — the Javelin’s time of flight is approximately 14 seconds for two kilometres.
