The U.S. Department of Defense said that the United States has sent 5,500 Javelin anti-tank missile systems to Ukraine.
“As of April 14, the U.S. has committed over 5,500 Javelin anti-armor systems to Ukraine since Russia’s unprovoked invasion began,” the DoD said in a Twitter post Thursday.
Pentagon gives Ukrainian Soldiers Javelin anti-armor systems as part of efforts to bolster the country’s defenses against Russia. The shoulder-fired Javelin automatically guides its projectile to the target, allowing the gunner to take cover immediately after firing and avoid being hit by counterfire.
Produced by defense contractors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, Javelin can defeat a broad spectrum of close combat threats providing fire-and-forget technology.
Ukraine’s armed forces have an urgent need for more of these particular weapons amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have also received thousands of other anti-tank weapons, including British NLAWs, Swedish-made AT4s and Carl-Gustavs, German Panzerfausts and Spanish Instalaza C90s.
