The U.S. Army is betting that demand for the FGM-148 Javelin missile, elevated to iconic must-have tank-killer by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, won’t die down anytime soon: The service is moving to replenish its stockpiles ahead of the next big war with a monster contract.
On Wednesday, the service awarded an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract valued at up to $7.2 billion over three years to Javelin Joint Venture, comprised of defense giants Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, to secure production of the beloved anti-tank missiles for the Army, Marines, Navy, and “international customers.”
The initial base order for the contract is $1.2 billion for an unspecified number of Javelin missiles, according to the Army. The cost of the missile itself has fluctuated over the last few years from $160,000 to $177,000, according to service budget documents for fiscal year 2024.
“The Army, along with industry partners, are striving to shorten the production lead time associated with production and delivery of these systems,” said Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Doug Bush in a statement. “This contract award further illustrates the urgency the U.S. government is applying to the acquisition of systems and replenishing munitions stockpiles.”
Long coveted as a military equalizer between asymmetric foes, the Lockheed-Raytheon joint venture has produced more than 50,000 Javelin missiles and 12,000 reusable command launch units to date, which is pushing to increase production from 2,100 to 3,960 missiles annually by late 2026, according to Breaking Defense.
That uptick in production comes a year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has seen the Javelin play an integral role in knocking out Russian armor. The missile itself has become a symbol of Ukraine’s military resistance, a powerful tool used to level the playing field between nimble Ukrainian soldiers and an onslaught of Russian tanks.
Source : Task and Purpose
