MOSCOW, (BM) – Since World War I, an armored vehicle has become an integral part of the weapons of almost all world armies. The tank was a mobile heavy weapon, capable of moving on the battlefield, on the move changing the strategy and alignment of forces of army formations. However, with the advent of tanks, weapons systems capable of counteracting armored vehicles also began to be produced, reports comandir.com.

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Large-caliber guns were an effective weapon against armored vehicles, but the mobility of “moving fortresses” very often leveled the advantage of large-caliber stationary guns. Understanding this, weapons designers threw all their forces into developing relatively light portable anti-tank guns.

During the Second World War, the Wehrmacht infantry units were armed with a Panzerfaust anti-tank hand grenade launcher, which became a real curse for the Allied armored vehicles. Similar types of portable anti-tank systems were subsequently developed by military engineers in many countries, reports comandir.com.

In 1996, the U.S. Army adopted the portable anti-tank missile system (ATGM) FGM-148 Javelin. The weapon is capable of effectively hitting enemy armored vehicles from a distance of up to 2,500 m.

The advantages of the missile system are: range, high accuracy, thanks to autonomous warhead guidance systems, and the ability to fire even from tight shelters without threatening the shooter, by minimizing the effect of the firing exhaust of the rocket engine.

The baptism of fire of the Javelins took place during the Iraq war, which ended in the overthrow of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

According to the American Internet resource Warrior Maven, military designers at the end of 2019 developed a new ammunition kit for the FGM-148 Javelin.

In addition to increasing the effective range of the target’s destruction to 4,500 m and a more powerful warhead charge, the updated Javelins will receive the latest generation’s optics and autonomous capture system, which will make it possible to use the complex for firing at night or in conditions of poor visibility.

The system will also use more advanced technologies for detecting, aiming, capturing and holding targets, reports comandir.com. In addition, detecting a soldier firing from the Javelin will be virtually impossible.

The latest improvement will make Javelin even more deadly for tanks armed with the Russian army. The last important factor that the American Javelin anti-tank system will acquire is its weight reduction of about 30%.

At the moment, the weight of the equipped FGM-148 Javelin complex is 22.3 kg with an effective target range of up to 2.5 km.

The Russian-made Kornet-E mobile anti-tank complex can hit a target from a distance of 5.5 km, reports comandir.com. However, he can do this only in conditions of good visibility. In addition, the Russian anti-tank missile system has an equipped weight of 55 kg, which, in comparison with Javelin, clearly does not add mobility to the domestic portable missile system on the battlefield.

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Source: Elena Skvorzova / Komandir