The Javelin anti-tank missile systems that Ukraine received from the United States operate under the “fire-and-forget” principle and will be used by Ukrainian military for purely defensive purposes, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“Javelin is, first and foremost, a defensive weapon. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will use them exclusively in case of provocations or an offensive of Kremlin-controlled separatists,” Poroshenko wrote on Twitter on May 28.
As reported, in November 2017, the U.S. Senate approved the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, which provides for the possibility of providing Ukraine with $350 million in military assistance, including the supply of lethal defensive weapons. In March 2018, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 37 Javelin Command Launch Units and 210 Javelin missiles to Ukraine for $47 million. According to the Ukrainian side, the delivery of Javelin systems to Ukraine was secured in April on the condition that they would not be used on the contact line in the war zone in Donbas.
On April 30, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko confirmed the delivery of Javelin anti-tank missile systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the United States.
On May 22, Poroshenko attended the first launches of Javelin missile systems in Ukraine. The president said that this is an “effective defensive weapon” that will be used only in the event of Russia’s attack on the positions of Ukrainian troops.
