An "I fought the LAW and the LAW won" bump.
Posted on 12/11/2002 8:41:51 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
GRAFENWUHR, Germany - After spending a few seconds locking on a target tank, Pvt. Brian Tarr hits the fire button of a Javelin anti-tank rocket and gets a popping sound as the launch motor lights.Exploding gas pops the 4-foot, 30-pound rocket out of the fiberglass launch tube on Tarr's shoulder. Six meters out, the Javelin's main rocket ignites with a loud whoosh.
It takes another five seconds for the missile to score a direct hit 2,000 meters away.
Boom, the tank is dead.
"That thing is so bad!" Tarr yells. "That thing is so awesome!"
Tarr, a tall 22-year-old, hands off the disposable tube and the guidance unit to Raytheon Electronics Systems trainer Daniel Copson, then walks to a cluster of soldier, taking handshakes and high fives. One kid flashing an admiring smile leans out of a group huddling in the freezing dawn, grabs Tarr's shoulder and says "You lucky bastard!"
Luck has nothing to do with it, says Tarr's partner on the range, Sgt. Christopher Kirkum, 21. Tarr is the platoon's best shot,"and our platoon is known for hitting what we shoot at. He's proved he's top gunner,"Kirkum says.
Tarr and Kirkum, of the 1st Armored Division's Company B, 3rd Platoon, 1st Battalion, 36th Brigade out of Giessen, go into the history books as the first USAREUR soldiers to fire the new Javelin Advanced Anti-Tank Weapons' Medium.
Saturday morning's firings of the weapon at Grafenwuhr Training Center may not be as revolutionary as the introduction of the first repeater rifle or the first machine gun. But the light-infantry soldiers who'll use it believe the Javelin levels the 21st century battlefield.
For 80 years, battle tanks roared through lines of unsupported light infantry. Anti-tank weapons with any punch were too large to use quickly, and had to be guided to the target. Now two soldiers with the 47-pound, $68,500 Javelin can take on a 68-ton, $20 million main battle tank at 2,000 meters, or more than 1.3 miles away.
The best thing, said Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Cronier of the 1st Battalion, 36th Brigade from Friedberg is that the Javelin is "fire and forget."
The Javelin replaces the 29-year-old CMS Dragon Medium Anti-Armor system, which required soldiers to guide missiles all the way to detonation, Cronier says.
The problem was, the Dragon left behind a huge smoke cloud that immediately drew enemy fire on the soldier trying to hang in for the last few seconds of flight. With the Javelin's 'brain' able to track the target, soldiers are now free to disappear as soon as they shoot.
"By the time [the enemy] knows they're under attack and starts directing suppressing fire,"concealed troops firing the Javelin can eliminate three tanks, Cronier says.
On Saturday, each soldier watches in awe as his Javelin races to its target. "Yeah, baby!" shouts Staff Sgt. Ray Cropps, Headquarters and Headquaraters Company, 1st Brigade of the 1st AD, as a missile obliterates a truck rigged to explode when struck by the inert training missile. "That's what I'm talking about!"
It's not hard to understand the excitement. The Javelin sighting uses technology that young PlayStation users find instantly accessible. Soldiers actually use cursors to isolate the cross hairs on the target, said Staff Sgt. Charles Hull, with the 16th Engineers. Through the command launch unit, "I see what the rocket sees. If I like it, I fire it," Hull said.
After only a week of training, the Javelin "gives the 18-year-old infantryman the ability to kill a tank," says Larry Casper, manager, international business development for Raytheon Corp., which build the weapon in a joint venture with Lockheed-Martin Corp.
On Saturday, the Javelin seem to have the undivided attention of a group of German officers and soldiers attending the firing. "How could it not," Casper asks, smiling, "when it's nine for nine?"
So far, only Marines and Special Forces operators have the weapons, which they've used only against bunkers in Afghanistan, Casper says. But he stresses the versatility of the weapon, saying that U.S. troops have used the CLU's survelliance capabilities to intercept al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.
While it represents an advance in anti-tank weapons, the Javelin has competition from the new Israeli-made Gil Spike, another fire-and-forget missile, said Terry J. Gander, editor of Jane's Infantry Weapons, the London-based reference on the world's armaments.
The Gil stands out from the Javelin on one feature it can be aborted.
So far, more countries have ordered the less expensive Spike than the Javelin, according to Gander. Britain currently is considering both, he said: "It'll be interesting to see which one wins out."
(4+ MB mpeg, certain plug-ins required, offer void where prohibited ).
What does "TOW" stand for?
Tired Of Walking.
Light, accurate, powerful and *most importantly* FIRE & FORGET, Javelin will not only kill the armor, it goes a long way to ensuring the shooter survives.
Javelin is one huge step forward in empowering the light and medium force against enemy armor.
M-1s cost about $4 million. The thing costs $68,500 apiece. Wasn't somebody just selling a T-55 on ebay for $7,500?
I think he deserves it somewhere else.
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