Expensive performance: Could Javelin break through the T-64B tower in Ukraine

During the recent ostentatious launches of the American FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank complex, the Ukrainian military resorted to crude manipulations to demonstrate good results.

So, the mass media of Ukraine began to write about the defeat of the "Russian tank". In fact, the target was a strange design in the form of an empty body of a decommissioned armored personnel carrier BTR-80, on which the tower was fixed from a damaged and obviously exploded or burned old T-64B tank. By the way, combat vehicles of this type in various variants are currently the main ones in the land forces of Ukraine.

Lattice screens were welded to the roof of the tower, however, as can be seen from the published images, this "visor" was fixed on thin metal rods at an unacceptably low height from the armor, which discredits the whole essence of this demonstration. If this were the case in reality, then the commander and the gunner-operator simply would not have the opportunity to occupy and leave their jobs.

The very demonstration of the power of the Javelin ATGM began with embarrassment: the first "high-precision" missile, either because of poor operator training, or because of some technical malfunction, did not find the target and exploded away from it.

The second launch seemed to be accurate, but there are questions here too. Yes, a part of the screen was destroyed, but in reality, besides it, all tanks also have dynamic protection, which was supposed to contribute to the smearing of the moving cumulative jet, but for some reason the organizers of this "experiment" forgot about it.

I also wonder why they were too shy to demonstrate the entrance hole in the roof? There is a hole in the stern everywhere, but in its appearance it is very old and, apparently, it was because of it that the tank from which the tower was borrowed died a few years ago. Therefore, it can be assumed that the rocket simply collapsed without any special effect.

In general, if we evaluate what was shown impartially, then instead of the professionalism of the calculation and the high efficiency of the American FGM-148 Javelin complex, we saw a poorly staged performance worth about 500 thousand dollars.

Alexey Brusilov