Close Combat: Footage shows Ukrainian solider annihilating a Russian tank with an American-made missile

In September 2024, combat footage captured on the frontline of the war in Ukraine caught a close-up view of a Ukrainian soldier using an American-made Javelin anti-tank missile to destroy a Russian vehicle.

Published on the X account of the National Guard of Ukraine, on the 29th of September, the video showed a soldier from the National Guard in a firing stance inside what appeared to be a trench line before launching off an anti-tank missile that eventually found its target. 

Photo Credit: X @ng_ukraine

The thirty-six-second clip includes overhead drone footage that allegedly captured the result of the attack. The anti-tank missile can be seen flying on a downward arc at the Russian tank in a downward arch before hitting a Russian T-72B3 tank and exploding. 

Photo Credit: X @ng_ukraine / Edited by The Daily Digest

The Russian T-72B3 tank would eventually catch on fire in the video, and the final scene of the footage showed smoke billowing from the vehicle in the aftermath of the attack.

Photo Credit: X @ng_ukraine

However, the video clip did not provide any conclusive evidence that the tank was ultimately damaged beyond repair, though Ukriane's National Guard claimed it was destroyed.

It is likely that the fire caused by the Javelin attack did result in the tank’s destruction. The incident took place somewhere along the frontline in the Pokrovsk sector. 

Photo Credit: X @ng_ukraine

The Javelin anti-tank missile was fired by a soldier from Ukraine's 15th Operational Brigade according to a report from Militarnyi. 

“It should be noted that the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile system is currently the most advanced anti-tank weapon in the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” Militarnyi reported about the American-made anti-tank weapon. 

The Javelin system is “the world's premier shoulder-fired anti-armor system” according to Lockheed Martin, which is one of the two American defense companies responsible for the creation and distribution of the weapon, the other being Raytheon. 

“Javelin takes the fight to the enemy. Javelin automatically guides itself to the target after launch, allowing the gunner to take cover and avoid counterfire. Soldiers…can reposition immediately after firing, or reload to engage another threat,” Lockheed Martin added. 

The Javelin uses an infrared guidance system to destroy targets in battle. According to United24, the weapon offers a top-down attack mode to strike lesser-protected areas of enemy armor and a direct attack mode to strike enemy vehicles and other targets.   

Javelin anti-tank missile systems proved vital to Ukraine during the early weeks of the Russian invasion according to NBC News. CNN cited the Javelin as one of the three weapons that changed the course of Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

“The Javelin, very specifically that system’s advanced capabilities, have been vital to Ukrainian military survival and ability to hold ground,” John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the nonpartisan Madison Policy Forum told NBC News in March 2022. 

According to the U.S. Department of State, Washington has given Ukraine more than 10,000 Javelin anti-tank systems since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. 

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