On March 16, 2021, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the Pentagon’s top arms broker, announced that the U.S. State Department has cleared a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Norway of Javelin FGM-148 man-
The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to Norway of one hundred twenty Javelin FGM-148 Missiles and two Javelin FGM-148 Missiles Fly to Buy.
The announcements say that the complete package will also include are twenty-four Javelin Block 1 Command Launch Units (CLUs) retrofit kits; spare parts; publications and technical documentation; personnel training; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistical and program support.
“The proposed sale will improve Norway’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving Norway’s anti-tank capability and continuing to enhance their surface-to- surface missile capability,” DSCA said in its announcement. “This proposed sale will allow Norway to employ its armed forces more effectively in the ground domain and continue its defensive support of NATO’s northern flank. Norway will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces.”
As noted by the DSCA, the prime contractors will be Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture of Orlando, Florida, and Tucson, Arizona.
The Javelin is a fire-and-forget anti-tank missile that uses infrared guidance to hit armored targets. The guidance system is contrasted to wire-guided anti-tank missiles, which require a shooter to actively guide the weapon until it hits its target. A Javelin shooter can immediately seek cover after firing its shot.
