CRASH COURSE IN JAVELINS: mASTERING HIGH-TECH “SpEAR HUNTING” IN THREE HOURS

The war in Ukraine is a crucible for heroes and a proof of concept for which weapons will work best against which targets. As early as the first months of the war, it was clear that Javelin missiles had become one of the most effective weapons for destroying enemy tanks.

By: ASSO PUIDET , managing editor of Kaitse Kodu!

Of course, a Javelin by itself destroys no one and nothing. Unless one knows what one is doing, it is as toothless as a tube of liverwurst. Maybe even less deadly. The key for destroying enemy hardware ultimately comes down to a human Javelin operator with a sure hand, nerves of steel and sharp vision. And there can never be too many of them.

With that in mind, the Defence League’s Northern territorial defence district’s infantry battalion’s anti-tank platoon initiated a crash course for training Javelin operators. “The ongoing Ukraine conflict shows that there is a demand for very many Javelins on the battlefield,” said course organizer and leader Lieutenant Raigo Sõlg, nicknamed Tank Destroyer.

As said, there can never be too many Javelin operators. Sõlg admitted that there are actually still too few. The course was organized to train fighters who are comfortable with the specifics, logic and tactics of anti-tank warfare. Among the target group for the training are fighters who are familiar with the Carl-Gustav recoilless anti-tank grenade launcher and certain anti-tank cannons.

After completing the course, trainees were expected to be capable of also posing a deadly threat to the adversary with Javelins in addition to their main weapon, should the need and opportunity arise.

DIFFICULT IN SIMULATORS, EASY IN BATTLE

As Sõlg noted, experience to this point shows that three hours is entirely sufficient for a fighter who has, in the best case, only seen images of Javelin to learn how to successfully operate one.

One hour of elementary weapons theory ushered in the module. Then, they learned to shoulder the CLU itself, with the whole assembly more than 20 kg, connected to a simulator.

The tasks the trainees were presented with were in no way ambiguous theoretical brain teasers but much more basic and hands-on. They had to select one mark in a moving or concealed convoy, get a lock on it and destroy it. “And no one has left our three-hour training without having virtually destroyed a tank,” said Sõlg.

Incidentally, since the simulator is more capricious than an actual weapon and requires more precision, anyone who has managed to successfully destroy the adversary can be pretty sure they will be able to effectively carry out their duty in real life.

For Those Who Need The Skill

Actually, the chance for other Defence League units to learn basic Javelin knowledge from anti-tank personnel has existed for years. Until the last days of February this year, interest had been quite low. Now the situation has changed and interest in the Javelin has grown significantly. And so, on 21 March, short courses in the use of this mainstay for anti-tank units began, in the course of which those who have the most chance of using the weapon on a battlefield could gain elementary knowledge about the missile.

Javelin

This portable medium close combat anti-tank missile system is shoulderfired, and is termed “fire and forget” – as the missile is selfguided and allows the operator to stay concealed. Javelins can hit the target in direct or top attack mode. It has been part of the armaments for the US and other countries since the mid-1990s and has been successfully used in Iraq in 2003 and later against rebels in Afghanistan.

SPECS

Weight: 6.8 kg

Effective firing range, top: 150–2500 m

Effective firing range, direct: 65–2000 m

Missile flight distance: 4000+ m

MISSILE

Armour penetration: 800+ mm (depend on angle)

Calibre: 127 mm

Flight time over maximum distance: ~19 seconds

Mass: 15.5 kg (missile in launch tube)

Those not behind a simulator at a given juncture could get a feel for the weapons itself and learn about its features. The group size was generally kept at 10 fighters or less. Otherwise quality would suffer or the course – which was held at the end of the work day – would have run into the wee hours.

Commentary:

MORE THAN 100 “SPEARMEN” READY TO GO

Sõlg said that it would be impossible to train every member of the Defence League or Northern territorial defence district no matter how much they might want to do that. But they do what they can, out of their free time and will. One week and hour at a time.