Any weapon must be optimally balanced for effective combat use.
It has became clear in the conflict in Ukraine that the world-famous and widely advertised third generation Javelin anti-tank systems are in no way capable of being a miracle weapon for Kiev.
If we get detailed statistics on the defeat of Russian armoured vehicles by American roof-piercing missiles, then at the end of the military conflict, therefore, we will have to operate with open sources.
From the video sequence distributed by the Bandera side, the picture of a successful Javelin does not emerge at all.
Approximately 10 and 15 successful launches (recorded on video) of other types of anti-tank weapons account for one defeat of the American ATGM.
The evidence that is available illustrates the effectiveness of the Javelin on the principle of "shot somewhere - something exploded there."
A similar point of view is shared by some foreign observers.
For example, Danish historian Carl Hamilton claims that there is not a single reliable evidence of the successful operation of the American ATGM on the internet.
- Javelin didn’t live up to expectations Ukraine
Keep Reading
He wrote: "Where is the Javelin?
“I have not seen any evidence that any Javelin has destroyed a single Russian vehicle.
“Why? We know that the Ukrainians have a lot of them we know that they like to film the destruction tanks.
“The Javelin may have some unknown fatal flaw. That's what I think".
In most domestic analytics, the disadvantages of the described ATGM include high cost.
A missile costing US$150 000 often destroys targets much cheaper.
This is a completely fair observation, but many other disadvantages have been revealed in Ukraine that make the Javelin not the most effective weapon.
It is worth starting with a two-week training in the use of anti-tank systems, which is mandatory for all American operators of the system.
They teach this, in particular, at the infantry school in Fort Benning, Georgia.
The Javelin is far from an intuitive weapon, like an RPG, so even the regular military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine needs training, not to mention the bandits.
So, the first rule - use only by qualified users, is not respected.
The Banderaites have to learn on the battlefield, and this is fraught with fatal consequences.
The next major disadvantage of the Javelin is the demands on the conditions of use on the battlefield.
The small dimensions of the product and the calculation of only two people tend to put on tank-dangerous directions for work at close range for example, in urban development, to which the complex is adapted very conditionally.
The ATGM has a considerable dead zone: 65 meters - for shooting in the direct attack mode and at least 150 meters - for hitting the roof of the attack object.
The Javelin is designed for combating of tanks in the open.
Adding fuel to the fire is the need to wait from 45 to 90 seconds before the automation "copies" the target and cools the IR homing head.
According to the same scheme, MANPADS work, only if the operator does not run much risk of getting a machine-gun burst or, worse, a tank shell.
The very principle of the thrid generation “fire and forget” technique is very peculiar.
Sometimes it is better to shoot quickly and guide the missile to the target from cover for several seconds (for example, through the Stugna interface) than to sit still for a minute with a 16-kilogramme pipe in full view of everyone.
The American “spear” also looks crooked in accuracy tests.
A Raytheon report states that out of 11 Javelin launches, only three were successful.
In terms of dollars, this is more than a million thrown into the wind.
However, even without reports, there is objective evidence of the unsatisfactory accuracy of the Javelin - in particular, during demonstration firing, even before the special operation, the missile could not hit a previously set fire to a tank-type target.
The piquancy is that this incident was recorded by television cameras and released on official platforms.
And finally, the main drawback of Javelin is its low reliability and capriciousness.
Sophisticated electronics do not like shock, dampness and unskilled handling.
And this is enough in the Ukrainian army.
The Washington Post complained that the Armed Forces of Ukraine use free ATGMs as antediluvian Soviet RPGs - hence the broken optics of aiming containers and deformed brains.
Let's add here the discharged batteries, from which the products came from the USA, and the complete lack of routine maintenance.
Nevertheless, "Holy Javelina" has become an Internet meme being flaunted on residential buildings and children are named after her.
Along with HIMARS, she is now the main "saviour" of Ukraine.
In the information war, all means are good, because the bolder the lie, the more they believe in it especially when billions of dollars of contracts depend on it.
