Soldier – August 2019

Report: Cliff Caswell Pictures: Graeme Main

32 AUGUST 2019 http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk

T

HERE is a strange pause as

the Javelin is released – a

point where time seems to

stand still.

As the trigger is pulled the

missile appears to hover in

space for a second before

suddenly fi nding its wings and rocketing

with a rampant acceleration towards its prey.

Only an understated, distant thud and

billowing smoke is testament to the huge

damage it infl icts.

The replacement for Milan, Lockheed

Martin’s sophisticated system has been in

the Army arsenal for some 15 years now –

but it has had something of a curious life.

At the outset, the handheld missile was

introduced into Afghanistan to give troops

an edge in clashes with the Taliban.

In close quarter fi ghting with an enemy

concealed in a tangled infrastructure of

compounds and bunkers, the warhead was

able to smash targets such as buildings in

devastating strikes.

Yet – like other kit introduced in the

Herrick era – Javelin was operated outside

the role for which it was created. Designed

for conventional confl ict, designers had

tanks in mind as the target.

And with the focus now turned to peer-on-

peer war fi ghting, this is the role to which it

is returning.

TIP OF THE

SPEAR

Training for anti-tank ops is taking a new path

for a diff erent battlefi eld

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