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DESTRUCTIVE FORCE

There is hectic activity in the anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) market

By ARUN SIVASANKARAN

F or anyone who wondered why anti-tank guided in Poland, the first international country to receive the
missiles (ATGMs) are in such great demand, the Javelin F-Model missile variant.
early days of the ongoing Russian aggression
“Together with PGZ, we are exploring a number of oppor-
provided ample answers.
tunities to leverage the resident skills and expertise of
Polish industry for Javelin co-production,” says Andy
One of the indelible visuals from the early days of the Amaro, president of the JJV and Raytheon’s Javelin pro-
ongoing war is that of Russian armored vehicles being gram director. “With growing demand for Javelin, these
blown up by ATGMs carried by Ukrainian infantry. With the new industry partners can play a vital role in support-
ongoing conflict once again proving how effective they ing the production and delivery of this combat-proven,
are in countering armored vehicles, demand for ATGMs fire-and-forget weapon system to the global Javelin
has surged across regions, particularly in Eastern Europe community.”
where tensions simmer.
Polish defence firm Mesko has expressed interest in man-
Traveling Overseas ufacturing metallic machine components for the Javelin.
The Polish company has also signed a contract with Rafael
The need is so great that the Javelin ATGM, which is in Advanced Defence Systems for the local production of
service with 23 countries, will soon be produced outside Spike-LR ATGMs. In July this year, Mariusz Błaszczak, Head
of the United States. In September, Javelin manufac- of the Polish Ministry of Defence, announced that Mesko
turer Lockheed Martin-Raytheon Javelin Joint Venture would provide the Polish Armed Forces several hundred
(JJV) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Spike missiles; deliveries are slated to happen until 2026.
with Poland’s Polska Group Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) to explore The service, which has so far taken delivery of two lots of
the establishment of a final assembly facility in Poland. Spike missiles - between 2004 and 2013 and between 2018
The two companies will also study the feasibility of man- and 2021 - will also procure portable launch units for the
ufacturing certain components of the weapon system missiles that are to be delivered.

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