US Army awards largest single-year contract for Javelin antitank missile worth $1.3 billion

News, US September 2, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

3 minute read

A joint venture between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $1.3 billion production contract by the U.S. Army for Javelin missiles and associated equipment. This contract, the largest single-year Javelin production agreement to date, underscores the increasing global demand for these highly effective anti-armor weapons, particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The latest contract by the U.S. Army is a continuation of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract first awarded in May 2023. It marks a significant escalation in the production of the Javelin missile system, a man-portable, fire-and-forget weapon known for its precision and lethality against armored targets.

The Javelin Joint Venture (JJV) by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin has been a critical player in producing these weapons, having already produced over 50,000 Javelin missiles and more than 12,000 reusable Command Launch Units (CLUs). These units are manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Orlando, Florida, and Raytheon’s facilities in Tucson, Arizona.

JJV President and Raytheon’s Javelin program director, Andy Amaro, emphasized the strategic importance of the Javelin system, stating, “Javelin is recognized as the most effective, combat-proven anti-armor weapon system in the world. Through this contract, we will continue to produce and deliver this needed capability to support global ground forces in their efforts to protect and defend their interests and sovereignty.”

The latest contract includes the production of 4,000 Javelin missiles, which will help replenish the stockpiles depleted by the extensive use of the weapon in Ukraine. Since the onset of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Javelins have played a crucial role in the Ukrainian defense, proving highly effective against Russian armor. The U.S. and other international partners have supplied thousands of these weapons to Ukraine, driving up global demand and necessitating increased production.

*^{Javelin F-Model (FGM-148F) multipurpose warheads. (Image Credit: Lockheed Martin)}*

Dave Pantano, vice-president of the JJV and Lockheed Martin Javelin program director, highlighted the importance of ramping up production to meet this rising demand. “With the increased demand for Javelin worldwide, our ability to ramp production to support our Army customer and global users is more important now than ever,” he said.

The Javelin system, first deployed in 1996, has been consistently upgraded to maintain its edge on the battlefield. The latest production model, the FGM-148F, which entered production in 2020, features a multipurpose warhead capable of penetrating armored targets equipped with explosive reactive armor (ERA). Meanwhile, the FGM-148G variant is currently under development, promising further enhancements to this already formidable weapon system.

The Javelin Joint Venture supports more than 25 international customers, with Kosovo being one of the newest to join the list. In addition to Kosovo, the JV has received a significant number of orders from countries including Albania, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Morocco, Thailand, and Brazil, particularly since the start of the war in Ukraine.

In a notable development last fall, Poland’s state-run defense group, PGZ, announced a memorandum of understanding with the JJV to jointly produce Javelin weapons, further expanding the global footprint of this critical defense technology.