Hello everyone, welcome back again with us.
This episode of Military TV is brought to you about FGM-148 Javelin.
The Javelin is a manportable, fire-and-forget, anti-tank missile employed by dismounted infantry
to defeat current and future threat armored combat vehicles.
It is intended to exchange the Dragon system in the Army and the Marine Corps.
In other words, Javelin is a tactical precision engagement system that enhances the Army's
ability to dominate the ground maneuver battle.
Its impact on scout capabilities are going to be significant.
It will allow dismounted scouts to execute reconnaissance and combat patrols with a relatively
lightweight thermal sight and also give dismounted patrols the potential of handling unexpected
armoured vehicle threats.
After having a bit of Javelin’s introduction, it’s a must for us to know the history of
Javelin.
The Javelin was designed in the 70s and 80s, when the leaders of the U.S. military had
nightmares about being overrun by endless hordes of Soviet tanks a fear worsened by
the generally poor performance of the M47 Dragon missile in use at the time.
However, the Javelin finally entered service with the U.S. military in 1996 after the Cold
War had ended, and first saw action in 2003 during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In 1989, the US army awarded a contract for the development of Javelin as a replacement
for the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile.
The Javelin joint venture was formed by Texas Instruments (now Raytheon Missile Systems)
of Dallas, Texas, and Lockheed Martin Electronics and Missiles of Orlando, Florida, US, and
now known as Missiles and Fire Control.
The Javelin entered full-rate production in 1994 and the system was first deployed in
June 1996 by the US Army at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The Javelin system saw operational service with the US army and Marine Corps, as well
as the Australian Special Forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and it is currently
deployed in Afghanistan.
The Command Launch Unit (CLU) is also being used in surveillance operations.
The standalone mode usage of the CLU was proved to be effective in target detection and battlefield
reconnaissance when it was deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
More than 2,000 rounds have been fired by the US and coalition forces.
The missile achieved a higher range of 4,750m during a demonstration in February 2013.
Five Javelins were successfully fired as part of the joint exercise, called Yudh Abhyas,
between the Indian and US armies in June 2013.
A Javelin missile was successfully test-fired from a turret at Cranfield Ordnance Test and
Evaluation Centre (COTEC) in May 2014.
In April 1991, the first test-flight of the Javelin succeeded, and in March 1993, the
first test-firing from the launcher succeeded.
In 1994, low levels of production were authorized, and the first Javelins were deployed with
US Army units in 1996.
Before we talk about how the system works.
Let’s see the specifications of the Javelin.
Based on Javelin Fielding Schedule the Javelin has :
The system is deployed and prepared to fire in less than 30s and the reload time is less
than 20s and.
While the missile is mounted on the CLU and the gunner engages the target using the sight
on the CLU by placing a curser box over the image of the target.
The gunner locks on the automatic target tracker in the missile by sending a lock-on-before-launch
command to the missile.
When the system is locked-on, the missile is ready to fire and the gunner does not carry
out post launch tracking or missile guidance.
Unlike laser beam riding or conventional wire or fibre-optic cable guided missiles, Javelin
is autonomously guided to the target after launch, leaving the gunner free to reposition
or reload immediately after launch.
A soft launch ejects the missile from the launch tube to give a low-recoil shoulder
launch.
The soft launch enables firing from inside buildings or covered positions.
Once the missile is clear, the larger propellant in the second stage is ignited and the missile
is propelled towards the target.
The weapon has two attack modes, direct or top attack.
The gunner selects direct attack mode to engage covered targets, bunkers, buildings and helicopters.
The top attack mode is selected against tanks, in which case the Javelin climbs above and
strikes down on the target to penetrate the roof of the tank where there is the least
armour protection.
The missile is launched at an 18 degrees elevation angle to reach a peak altitude of 150m in
top attack mode and 50m in direct fire mode.
The Javelin’s CLU has a sophisticated infrared sensor with multiple viewing modes, including
4x optical zoom, a 4x green-lit thermal view, and a 12x narrow-vision zoom activated for
targeting.
The seeker in the missile even provides a fourth 9x thermal viewing mode.
The CLU can therefore serve as a handy scanning device for the infantry.
The thermal viewers on the Javelin needs to be cooled off to function well, which theoretically
takes 30 seconds, but might take a bit longer if you’re in Baghdad and it’s a breezy
120 degrees at noon.
Once the firer acquires a target, locks the infrared seeker on to it and pulls the trigger,
the Javelin missile is ejected out of the CLU without using its rocket motor in a “soft
launch” creating relatively little back blast.
Missile launch back blast not only makes it easy for opposing forces to spot the launcher
after firing, but can make launching while inside a confined space (a building) a deadly
risk.
So the Javelin’s small backblast is very handy for keeping the operator alive.
Still, the launch does blow back some gas, so you don’t want to stand directly behind
it.
In any case, the Javelin missile remains one of the United States’ most potent systems
on the ground, and one that seems set to increase in capability and be deployed on a greater
number of platforms Its presence, or absence, on battlefields around the world will remain
both consequential and highly scrutinized.
That’s all what can we share you today.
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As always thank for watching and see you in the next video.