In a joint statement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with US President Donald Trump in the US, India and the US announced plans to pursue new procurements and co-production arrangements for Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, to meet defense requirements of India.
The joint production of the missiles had come up last year as well, during the visit of former national security advisor Jake Sullivan.
FGM-148 Javelin is a highly advanced American-made anti-tank guided missile system, developed by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
The man-portable, shoulder-fired, anti-armour system automatically guides itself to the target after launch, allowing the gunner to take cover and avoid counterfire.
According to Lockheed Martin, soldiers can reposition immediately after firing, or reload to engage another threat with the Javelin system.
"Using an arched top-attack profile, Javelin climbs above its target for improved visibility and then strikes where the armour is weakest. To fire, the gunner places a cursor over the selected target," the profile of the weapon system on the Lockheed Martin website reads.
"The Javelin command launch unit then sends a lock-on-before-launch signal to the missile. With its soft launch design, Javelin can be safely fired from inside buildings or bunkers."
Designed to defeat all known and projected threat armour, the Javelin system consists of a missile in a disposable launch tube assembly and a reusable Command Launch Unit(CLU).
Javelin, which has been used in Afghanistan and Iraq in more than 5,000 engagements, can be deployed from multiple platforms and used during the day, at night and in any kind of weather.
