Raytheon-Lockheed joint venture awarded Javelin-F missile contract.

The Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Javelin Joint Venture was awarded a production contract for 2,100 Javelin FGM-148F, marking the initial full-rate production agreement to replace the Javelin-E, Lockheed said on January 30. The first F-Model round deliveries are planned for early 2020.

FGM-148E Javelin (Picture source: U.S. Army/Jack Kirby)

The FGM-148F features an advanced multipurpose warhead as part of the man portable, fire-and-forget Javelin missile system, and incorporates the latest generation shaped charged technology to defeat armored threats. It also adds a fragmented steel warhead to improve lethality against both soft targets and lightly armored vehicles, according to the company.

There are plans to develop a high performance Lightweight Command Launch Unit (CLU) and FGM-148G Model missile that will dramatically improve system performance while reducing weight and lowering system cost, Lockheed said.

The FGM-148 Javelin is a U.S.-made man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile which locks on and uses automatic infrared guidance, allowing the user to take cover immediately. The tandem warhead carries two shaped charges: a precursor to detonate explosive reactive armor and a primary warhead to penetrate base armor.

It has seen extensive use in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 12,000 CLUs have been produced to date and are in the inventories of U.S. forces and France, Taiwan, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Ukraine, Georgia, Australia, Estonia, UAE and the United Kingdom.