Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1064315
Both missiles offer, in essence, two main attack modes. For the Javelin, it is direct attack with a flight altitude (depending on the distance from the target) of 15 to 60 m, and top-attack with a flight altitude of 140 to 160 m (depending on the distance) and a dive at the target at a maximum 60° angle. A Javelin missile makes also a characteristic "viper-like" move when approaching the target – which can confuse older types of hard kill APS such as the Drozd, the Arena or the Zasłon. The Spike comes with two main attack modes too. In the "low" mode, the maximum flight altitude depends on the range and amounts to 40-130 m. In the "high" mode – it is 40-250 m. The Spike's advantage is the ability to dive at the target at an angle of more than 80°, which makes it very difficult to use active protection measures. But that's not all. The Spike's manual mode can make the missile plunge almost fully vertically at its target or even dive when it passes its target – and this depends on the operator's skills only. The Javelin offers, in turn, a cumulative warhead with a precursor. A larger diameter of the missile, and therefore of its in- sert, coupled with its optimization made it possible even for the early ver- sions to deal with over 1,000 mm RHA; and there was an effective precur- sor on top of that. Given the attack angle, hitting any reactive armor had to result in its neutralization. The primary warhead was able to deal even with the main armors of tanks from the late-USSR era. When the missile hit the upper surfaces of a tank, it was an overkill. But we should remem- ber about the paradox of precise but non-fatal hits. The Javelin aims at a specified thermal contrast, which is why if the operator has not managed to capture the whole contrast in the ΔT of the vehicle's body and has not marked its middle, the missile may hit e.g. the engine compartment or an over-track shelf. It will immobilize the tank, but it won' destroy it. Newer versions of the Javelin feature an even more powerful warhead – offer- ing a two times greater ability to strike soft targets with shrapnel, and its armor-piercing performance amounts to 1,200 mm RHA. That's not everything – a greater speed of the generated cumulative stream makes it difficult for the "active" layers of an armor to "get hold of it" and interrupt its continuity. And then there's the next-gen precursor – possibly something in-between EFP and HEAT, able to deal with most ERA armors. The Spike features a much weaker warhead, which is a result of the smaller diameter of the cumulative insert. The missile comes with a precursor, but the main charge of the initial versions was able to get through up to 700 mm of steel. The newer series can pierce through almost 1,000 mm. It's important to remember, though, that the Spike may be aimed precisely at e.g. a tank hatch or an ERA-free part of a vehicle. Training a Javelin operator takes two weeks, with the training program broken down into 10 days and 80 hours. To keep the learnt habits 'alive', the idea is to launch at least one missile a year and eight exercise ses- sions per year using MILES at different levels – from anti-tank section through platoon to company and battalion. Is it possible to shorten the training time? According to official information – it is. But will such a cut-corner user be able to handle system errors and failures, manage the contrasting of the target image in the CLU and setting the contrast at a low ΔT, having practiced all of the above in advance? There can be serious doubts about it, that's why it's better to adhere to the US Army training program strictly in this respect. Training a Spike operator to run the system in the F&F mode takes virtually just as much time. A com- plete training is much longer, but this is because of the incomparably greater potential of missile guidance with a human in the decision loop. So if we compare the said two systems in those areas where it possible (F&F based on IR), there's not much difference when it comes to training duration. www.fragoutmag.com