The Armed Forces of Ukraine will unveil its recently received Javelin anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) during the largest military parade in Kyiv on Aug. 24 to mark the Independence Day.
Ukrainian military began preparations for the annual Independence Day parade set to take place August 24 and during rehearsals was spotted Javelin ATGMs that country received from the USA in this year.
Ukraine has received a first batch of the Javelin anti-tank missiles from the United States as a military aid package at the beginning of 2018.
The United States has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region that has killed more than 10,000 people.
But Russia has repeatedly said supplying weapons to Ukraine would further destabilize the situation by encouraging Kyiv to use force.
Also, Russian defence reporter and military expert Alexey Khlopotov fearing that Russian main battle tanks would be helpless against man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missiles like the Javelin.
Alexei Khlopotov clarified that in the existing versions all Russian serial tanks are practically defenseless against a US-made Javelin ATGM. Khlopotov noted that even with a lot of disadvantages, American ATGMs can confidently hit modern and upgraded tanks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The Javelin ATGM is capable of defeating modern tanks by attacking them from above at the top armor, which is generally thinner and has weak protection. It uses a fire-and-forget, automatic infrared guidance that allows the user to seek cover immediately after launch.