It’s better not to let an illiterate Ukrainian soldier near Javelin – media
The American Javelin anti-tank missile systems, which Washington has decided to sell to Ukraine, will not change the situation in Kyiv's favor on the battlefields in Donbas, writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
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The publication notes that after serious defeats suffered by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in military clashes with the Donbass militia, the search for a panacea began in Kyiv, which was announced as Javelin.
“Javelin means “javelin” in English. This is a third generation man-portable anti-tank missile system. Its distinctive feature is that there is no need to keep the target in the sight's sight all the time. The combat crew only needs to find the target, fix it in the sighting system, transfer the data to the homing head of the “dart” and launch a missile, which itself will find the target and hit it. “As stated, Javelin is capable of flying up to a tank, independently changing its trajectory and striking at the most vulnerable place - the roof of the turret, and even directly at the hatch,” the publication writes.
At the same time, the newspaper continues, in reality everything is not so optimistic for potential Ukrainian owners of expensive American “darts”.
“According to our experts, who have had time to become quite familiar with the real capabilities of the Javelin ATGM, almost all of its superiority is in the all-out advertising campaign, which created the appearance of the exclusivity of this weapon. According to experts, 30 percent of missiles launched do not hit the target, and some fall immediately after launch. Protecting yourself from being hit by “darts” is also not very difficult.
The Shtora optical-electronic countermeasures station is guaranteed to suppress the homing system of an American missile. Even the simplest smoke screen makes the tank invisible to the Javelin system. And every modern tank is equipped with “Tucha” smoke protection systems. T-72 tanks used by Donbass militias are also equipped with such complexes. The American developers of Javelin claim that their complex is the best in the world and Russia has nothing like it. For comparison, no amount of active interference or smoke screens will save an enemy tank from the Russian Chrysanthemum anti-tank system,” RG points out.
In addition, the disadvantages of the American system include the complexity of management and maintenance.
“It is better not to let a Ukrainian soldier with the level of his current education near such computerized “darts”. It’s not even an hour, they’ll fire in their own way. And this is done easily. Nowadays, humorous bets are being accepted on the Internet on which third country will soon see the appearance of Ukrainian Javelins received from America. Considering the corruption of the Kyiv authorities, this option is quite possible,” the publication does not rule out.
It's better not to let an illiterate Ukrainian soldier near a Javelin – media