Javelin missiles turn the tide against Russian armor in Kursk

Forbes analyst David Axe believes that the anti-tank guided missiles used in FGM-148 Javelin launchers are the main obstacle for the Russians aiming to drive Ukrainian forces out of their territory. He cites a Russian war blogger who claims that Ukrainian drones and anti-tank guided missiles have made it so that "tanks can only operate from hidden positions."

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the Russian losses shown in the video result from just two days of work by the 36th Marine Brigade in the Kursk region. Thanks to the FGM-148 Javelin, three tanks and four BMD-4 infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed.

The FGM-148 Javelin is a "fire-and-forget" system, which means there is no need to guide the missile to the target once fired. Its guidance head features an infrared sensor that sees the thermal image of the target. The range of the rockets used depends on the launcher version. Older versions allow attacking targets at distances up to about 1.5 kilometres, while newer versions can reach over 5 kilometres.

It is estimated that due to decisions by former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, around 10,000 anti-tank guided missiles dedicated to FGM-148 Javelin launchers were sent to Ukraine, of which Ukrainians may have received several hundred.

A shooter using the FGM-148 Javelin has two modes of operation. In the first, the missile hits the target directly, while in the second, it rises to a significant height (up to about 150 metres) before descending on the target from above, eliminating more heavily armoured objects.

In the first weeks of the war, missiles launched from the FGM-148 Javelin inflicted significant losses on the Russians, who were attacking with armoured vehicles on a large scale. As demonstrated by the situation in the Kursk region, American equipment, known as the "tank destroyer," continues to be effective now.