Tensions With Russia Rise, US Sells Rp1.7 Trillion Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles To Lithuania

Javelin anti-tank missile illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/United States Army)

JAKARTA - The US State Department has approved a potential sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to the Lithuanian government in a deal worth up to $125 million, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The sale comes as tensions rise in Eastern Europe, with Russia amassing troops along its border with Ukraine. Previously, President Joe Biden's Administration sent Javelin missiles to Ukraine last October, the US Embassy in Kyiv said on Twitter.

The total sales package for Javelin anti-tank missiles this time will include 341 variants of the FGM-148F weapon and 30 launch command, spare parts and technical support units, the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale on Tuesday.

The Pentagon said the proposed sale "will help Lithuania build its long-term defense capacity to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity to meet its national defense requirements."

Although approved by the State Department, the notification does not indicate a contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded.

The Pentagon added that Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies were the prime contractors for the weapon.

Illustration of a javelin anti-tank missile system mounted on an armored vehicle. (Wikimedia Commons/Sgt. Sara Stalvey)

Separately, last November Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin had no information on whether the US Javelin anti-tank missile system was used in the Donbass region,

"No, we have no information about where and how they were used. But it is a clear fact that they were present there," said a spokesman for the Russian presidency, commenting on the statement by the head of Ukrainian Military Intelligence Kirill Budanov, that the Ukrainian military had used the missile system. US anti-tank Javelin in Donbass, citing TASS.

Peskov at the time refused to directly answer questions about whether Moscow would consider the use of the Javelin anti-tank missile system, for example crossing the "red line" that Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken of.

The US-based Outlet Military Times reported on November 14 citing Budanov that the Ukrainian military had used the Javelin anti-tank missile system supplied by the United States against fighters of the self-proclaimed militias of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk.

The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces confirmed on October 26 that the military had used a Turkish-made Bayraktar combat drone in the Donbass area for the first time.

To note, at the end of June 2020, the United States delivered the Javelin anti-tank missile system to Ukraine under a contract signed in December 2019, as well as weapons and other equipment worth 60 million US dollars.