Shoot and scoot

The Javelin is a medium-range, man-portable, shoulder-launched, fire-and-forget anti-tank weapon

3 min read

Updated On: Oct 10 2026 | 6:10 AM IST

Anti-tank guided missiles play a key role in modern infantry warfare. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

“The highest level of classification of defence articles, components, and services included in this potential sale is SECRET.”

That is how the United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) described its proposed sale of the Javelin missile system to India, in a November 2025 notification, setting out the case for the deal and the sensitivity of what it would transfer.

It is built by the Javelin Joint Venture (JJV), a partnership between RTX Corporation and Lockheed Martin. India is buying about 60 missiles, and a small number of launchers, for the army under a ₹292 crore government-to-government agreement announced in August. Within days of the announcement, Tata Advanced Systems signed a memorandum of understanding with the JJV to explore co-producing the complete Javelin round in India.

The Javelin is a medium-range, man-portable, shoulder-launched, fire-and-forget anti-tank weapon. It can be mounted on vehicles, aircraft and watercraft. The system can destroy tanks and other platforms, whether shielded by conventional steel and composite plating or by reactive armour, the explosive panels fixed to a vehicle’s exterior that blow outwards to blunt an incoming warhead. It has a secondary capability against bunkers too. It has a maximum range in excess of 4,500 metres. What fire-and-forget means in practice is that the missile flies itself. The DoD describes it as autonomously guided by an imaging infrared seeker working with adaptive correlation tracking algorithms — software that holds the lock on a moving target — while an onboard flight computer carries it to the target the gunner selected before launch.

The army currently uses the 84 millimetre multi-role recoilless rifle, “which is particularly suited for use at the platoon level”, and second-generation missiles, says Lieutenant General Dushyant Singh (retired), Director General of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies. “But the Javelin brings with it a host of new capabilities. On a battlefield where drones can ambush infantry, fire-and-forget allows the gunner to scoot after shooting. He is less exposed and more mobile. This enables force preservation, which is a primary concern at present.”

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“The missile’s seeker and software bring increased precision, making the probability of hitting the target higher,” he says. “In essence, it will increase both the lethality and the survivability of the soldier.”

The most valuable component of the system is the software that keeps it tracking after the gunner has moved or turned to another target. That is where the “secret” classification comes in. “The sensitivity is primarily in the software programmes which instruct the system how to operate in the presence of countermeasures,” the DoD says. The hardware is sensitive too, specifically what it would reveal about the infrared wavelengths the seeker uses.

The system is capable of “soft launch from enclosures or covered fighting positions”. This means that when it is fired from inside a room or a bunker, the crew is not harmed by a backblast.

The missile can be flown in “top attack and direct fire modes” — flight profiles the gunner selects between. Direct fire is meant for targets under cover. Top attack sends the missile climbing and then down onto the roof of the target.

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Written By :

Bhaswar Kumar

Bhaswar Kumar has over seven years of experience in journalism. He has written on India Inc, corporate governance, government policy, and economic data. Currently, he covers defence, security and geopolitics, focusing on defence procurement policies, defence and aerospace majors, and developments in India’s neighbourhood.