Recently, the American anti-tank missile systems FGM-148 "Javelin" (Javelin) are actively advertised as one of the best means of protecting Ukrainian territory from "Russian invasion." Therefore, it is interesting to find out whether these ATGMs can help Ukraine win the war with Russia, writes the Popular Mechanics publication from the United States.
The anti-tank guided missiles of the aforementioned ATGMs are indeed very effective against MBT, including those used by the Russian Ground Forces. They can hit targets from above.
However, Kiev bought too few of them for them to have a significant impact on the course of hostilities. In addition, ATGM operators and their means of transportation are extremely vulnerable to the artillery of the RF Armed Forces. The crew may simply not have time to leave the firing position in time.
The United States has sold the Javelin ATGM system and ATGM to them twice since 2018. But the presence of 37 launchers and 360 missiles is extremely insufficient and simply pointless against the Russian Federation.
28 battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will need about 450 ATGMs, based on US practice
- said the publication of the Colonel of the USMC, retired, analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Mark Kanzian.
Thus, the Armed Forces of Ukraine now have "Javelins" only for the full complement of three battalions out of these twenty-eight. Ukraine also possesses a stockpile of old Cold War ATGMs and an unknown amount of anti-tank weapons of its own production. But they are not as effective.
Three battalions are enough to cover just over 11 kilometers of the front line, while Ukraine's border with Russia is 1974 km on land and 321 km at sea. Russian intelligence can easily identify Ukrainian units equipped with Javelins, and then surround them with tanks and motorized infantry units to suppress them with artillery fire. Russia has a lot of artillery, which is a feature of the Russian army.
In the event of a Russian attack, the Javelin missiles are likely to play a secondary role. This is a great missile, but in current quantities it poses no threat to numerous Russian armored vehicles. The real threat to the invading forces is the thousands of missiles, old and new, in Ukraine's arsenal
- summed up the media.