The Javelin Joint Venture by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin has been awarded a production contract for 2,100 F-Model (FGM-148F) missiles.

The contract award, which follows a system qualification test program that included 21 successful flight tests, launches the initial full-rate production agreement for the Javelin F-Model missile, replacing the Javelin FGM-148E (Block I). 

The Javelin FGM-148F missile features an advanced multipurpose warhead as part of the man-portable, fire-and-forget Javelin missile system. The advanced multipurpose warhead incorporates the latest generation shaped charged technology to defeat present and future advanced armored threats while adding a fragmenting steel warhead case to significantly improve lethality against soft targets and light armored vehicles.

The Javelin system takes a top-attack flight profile against armored vehicles (attacking the top armor, which is generally thinner) but also can take a direct-attack mode for use against buildings, targets inside the minimum top-attack engagement range, and targets under obstructions. The missile also has the ability to engage helicopters in the direct-attack mode, as it can reach a peak altitude of 500 feet in top-attack mode and 190 feet in direct-fire mode. 

Javelin is equipped with an imaging infrared seeker, and its tandem warhead is fitted with two shaped charges: a precursor warhead to detonate any explosive reactive armor and a primary warhead to penetrate base armor.

The missile is ejected from the launcher so it reaches a safe distance from the operator before the main rocket motors ignite, called a soft-launch arrangement, which makes it more difficult to identify the launcher.

The Javelin F-Model round deliveries are planned for early 2020 and will be available for international allies, with U.S. government permission. 

Javelin has been used extensively and to great advantage in combat operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq, with more than 5,000 engagements being successfully conducted by U.S. and coalition forces.

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., journalist who writes for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He's the author of several books on historical military firearms; two historical mysteries, Full Moon and Asylum Lane; and an historical thriller, A Case of Dom Perignon; all available at www.amazon.com.