Sipping “Javelin”, Macedonia confirms first payment has been made

Defence Minister Ejup Macedonia has confirmed that they have already completed the first payment for the purchase of antitank missiles “Javelin”.

Macedonia has said they are in the process of having this system on KSF inventory.

“We are in the process of buying, so procurement of this system. We have already executed the first payment for this system, which means that not only has it been approved, but we are in the process of continuing to have this system in our inventory. So it's a matter done, Yavelin will be part of the Kosovo Security Force inventory”, has declared Macedonia for KTV.

In January, the Kosovo Defence Ministry announced that it has applied for the purchase of other weapons, in addition to 246 opposing Javelin-type missiles.

On January 11th, the US State Department accepted the possible sale for Kosovo of 246 rockets “Javelin” worth about $75m. The request was submitted to the American Congress, which approved the purchase in February of this year.

Missile “Javelin” is the antitank system produced for the American Army. Production started in 1996, while for the first time on the battlefield was used in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003.

For the general public, this kind of weapon became known after Russian aggression in Ukraine. The Ukrainian army has used these missiles to destroy Russian armoured vehicles that entered its territory.

Thanks to technology, this missile system automatically heads toward its target after launch. Soldiers can be repositioned immediately and prepared for the next drop.

The rocket has the ability to speed up to 150 meters per second. She rarely missed the target. It operates at a distance of between 200 and 4,000 feet [65 m].

A “javelin” rocket costs about $180 thousand.

So far an estimated 38,000 such missiles have been produced. About 20-25 thousand of them have been used in various wars or actions, the rest for testing and training.