Lithuanian army to get FGM-148F Javelin antitank missiles


According to Himaja Ganta in Army Technology, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale (FMS) of 230 FGM-148F Javelin missiles and associated equipment to Lithuania. Under the deal, Lithuania has also requested 20 Javelin command launch units (CLUs).
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A U.S. soldier fires an FGM-148 Javelin antitank missile at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Aug. 21, 2019 (picture source: U.S. Army)


The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) noted that this sale will be combined with an earlier ‘implemented case under threshold’. The initial FMS (Foreign Military Sale) case, which was valued at around $28.23m, included one 111 FGM-148F Javelin missiles and ten Javelin CLUs. Hence, the latest notification is for a total of 341 Javelin FGM-148F missiles and 30 Javelin CLUs, Himaja Ganta writes. Battery chargers, enhanced producibility basic skills trainer (EPBST), training, publications, and support equipment are also included in the sale package.

The FGM-148 Javelin is a man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile system jointly developed by the American companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. It is one of the most popular anti-tank weapon systems which is in service with Australia, Bahrain, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Libya, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.

The missile is fitted with a HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) tandem warhead able to destroy main battle tanks as well as buildings, fortifications, lightly armored, and unarmored vehicles. As a fire-and-forget missile, after launch, the missile has to be able to track and destroy its target without the gunner. This is done by coupling an on-board imaging IR system (different from the Command Launch Unit CLU imaging system) with an on-board tracking system. The missile has a maximum firing range of 2,500 m using the CLU, and 4,500 m when the missile is launched from a weapon station mounted on a vehicle.


Defense News December 2021