Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles – Ukraine’s Wall of Defense Against a Russian Invasion

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Russia’s 12,420 tanks make it the largest tank force on the planet and roughly six times the size of Ukraine’s 2.596 tanks, a circumstance which raises questions about just how realistic it might be for Ukraine to succeed in repelling or stopping a Russian invasion.

Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles & Russia Invasion

Also, Russia has about twice as many armored vehicles as Ukraine and as much as six times the amount of self-propelled artillery. The airpower margin of difference is equally extreme, with Russia listed as operating 772 fighter aircraft compared to Ukraine’s 69 fighters, according to a side by side Russia vs Ukraine data analysis from Global Firepower. 

This massive discrepancy in force size and capacity raises the question as to whether Ukraine could stop, delay or even “slow down” a Russian assault. Any cursory examination of each force would lend itself to an immediate “no,” meaning Ukraine is likely to fall quickly should Russia ultimately launch an invasion.

• Could Russia’s overwhelmingly larger ground Army be stopped by Ukraine, a force now increasingly armed with some US weapons such as Javelin Anti-tank missiles?

• Should Ukrainian forces disperse and use terrain intelligently to favor surprise elements of attack along expected attack routes where approaching Russian forces appear to be heading toward?

• Should Ukraine’s 2,000-strong tank force find attack positions offering tactical advantage using elevation, terrain and advanced, long-range targeting sensors to track and destroy incoming Russian armored forces from advantageous hidden firing points?

A Russian force that large would need to maneuver and potentially even “mass” or aggregate at certain critical moments, making their force potentially vulnerable. This is particularly true if Ukrainian forces make use of their now arriving Javelin anti-tank missiles capable of tracking and destroying tanks at ranges greater than several miles. 

Dismounted individual units of Ukrainian soldiers could quietly lodge themselves in attack positions and potentially destroy Russian armored vehicles without being found or detected. Small units of Javelin-armed Ukrainian fighters would be very difficult for Russian forces to target from the air or the ground, regardless of avenue of approach.

Using hills, mountains or forest areas could prove challenging in Eastern Ukraine, however, as the country is reported to have “plains” in the East and be hilly in the West. However, there will undoubtedly be hills, valleys and forest areas Ukrainian defenses could try to leverage to their advantage. 

Yet another problem is that Ukrainian resistance will likely face annihilation from the air given Russia’s overwhelming air superiority. Once Javelins or Ukrainian tanks fired rounds in defense of their position, they would be likely to give up their location quickly to overhead drones with infrared or thermal sensors able to detect the heat and light signatures emitting from the weapons.