Nice vid of the Javelin Anti-Tank Weapon being tested

Folks,

I have done articles on the Javelin and I fired the first simulator at the US Army Association convention in Washington DC in 1986. I also have talked to the first US soldier to use the Javelin in combat in northern Iraq (ie the claim of first combat use of the Javelin I think goes to the Aussies in the Western Iraqi deserts in 2003). Without a shadow of a doubt the Javelin is the best manportable antitank weapon in the world.

BUT it is so-SO very expensive. The expenses has sucked dry some other US Army budgets for example training. A weapon can become so expensive that it a negative effect (ie the US Army realized that with the MBT-70 tank and the Cheyenne attack helicopter). The better more cost effective solution would have been the Hughes Missile FOG-M AAWS-M candidate. By placing most of the guidance electronics at the gunners firing unit (so it could be used over and over) the price could have been cut in half or more. But the US Army insisted on the BEST. And as they say, Best is the enemy of good enough.

Finally, because the Javelin is so expensive, the Israelis with their Spike and GILL have been making a killing in export sales.

Jack E. Hammond
 
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