Platform Firings Reduce Troop Exposure
The Javelin Joint Venture team, a partnership of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, has successfully fired JAVELIN missiles from a Kongsberg remote launcher mounted on a TITAN unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) built by QinetiQ North America and Milrem Robotics. The demonstrations, conducted at the US Army Redstone Test Center, AL, validated the integration of the weapon station, missile and vehicle.
“JAVELIN is ready to support emerging military robotic vehicle requirements,” commented Sam Deneke, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems Vice President. “Remotely operated technology like this protects soldiers in battle.”
JAVELIN has been fielded on the Common Remote Operations Weapon Station (CROWS)-JAVELIN with US Army STRYKER 8×8 vehicle brigades in Europe.
“JAVELIN offers true fire-and-forget engagements to 4km in most operational conditions,” observed David Pantano, Javelin Joint Venture Vice President and Lockheed Martin JAVELIN Program Director. “Once the launch command is issued, soldiers and vehicle assets like the UGV can reposition out of harm’s way. These tests demonstrated our ability to evolve JAVELIN capabilities to address new missions in support of the warfighter.”
JAVELIN is a versatile one-man-portable and platform-employed anti-tank and multi-target precision weapon system. The Javelin Joint Venture team has produced over 45,000 JAVELIN missiles and 12,000 command launch units. The programme continually updates the system to stay ahead of advancing threats, including enhancing its platform-mounted capabilities. US and coalition forces have used the missile extensively in Afghanistan and Iraq in more than 5,000 engagements.
