Raytheon, Lockheed Martin joint venture team remotely launches Javelin missiles from unmanned vehicle.

The Javelin Joint Venture team, a partnership of Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin, successfully fired Javelin missiles from a Kongsberg remote launcher mounted on a Titan unmanned ground vehicle built by QinetiQ North America and Milrem Robotics. The demonstrations, conducted at the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center, Alabama, validated the integration of the weapon station, missile and vehicle.

Remotely controlled Javelin firings can help keep soldiers out of harm’s way (Picture source: Lockheed Martin)

"Javelin is ready to support emerging military robotic vehicle requirements," said Sam Deneke, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president. "Remotely operated technology like this protects soldiers in battle."

Javelin has been fielded on the Common Remote Operations Weapon Station-Javelin across U.S. Army Stryker 8x8 vehicle brigades in Europe.

"Javelin offers true fire-and-forget engagements to 4 kilometers in most operational conditions," said David Pantano, Javelin Joint Venture vice president and Lockheed Martin Javelin program director. "Once the launch command is issued, soldiers and vehicle assets like the UGV can reposition out of harm's way. These tests demonstrated our ability to evolve Javelin capabilities to address new missions in support of the warfighter."

Javelin is a versatile one-man-portable and platform-employed anti-tank and multi-target precision weapon system. The Javelin Joint Venture team has produced over 45,000 Javelin missiles and 12,000 command launch units. The program continually updates the system to stay ahead of advancing threats, including enhancing its platform-mounted capabilities.

U.S. and coalition forces have used Javelin extensively in Afghanistan and Iraq in more than 5,000 engagements.