The State Department approved a potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of 600 Javelin missiles to the United Kingdom for $125 million.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the sale on Feb. 28.
The U.K. specifically requested to buy up to 600 Javelin FGM-148F man-portable anti-armor missiles, which includes 12 fly-to-buy missiles, along with U.S. government technical assistance and related logistics and program support.
The prime contractors for the sale are the Javelin Joint Venture between Raytheon Technologies [RTX] and Lockheed Martin [LMT].
DSCA said the U.K. would use the Javelins to build its long-term defense capacity to meet defense requirements, helping it meet current and future threats.
This possible sale comes after the U.S. announced it has thus far committed to providing over 8,500 Javelin systems to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion (Defense Daily, Feb. 24).
Defense Department officials are hoping to use new multi-year procurement authority to replenish stockpiles and increase the production capacity of munitions sent to Ukraine
Last week, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters the service is looking to see what it can do regarding Javelins, GMLRS rockets and munitions across the board (Defense Daily, Feb. 23).
“I think we’re going to start seeing those multi-year procurements bear fruit,” she said.
In December, the U.K. Ministry of Defence announced a $275 million deal with Saab for more Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW) systems after it gave thousands from its own stocks to Ukraine. British NLAWs alongside Javelins were included in the 10,000 total anti-tank weapons the U.K. supplied to the Ukrainian government.
That deal expects to have “several thousand” NLAWs delivered from 2024 to 2026, in addition to a separate order for 500 being delivered this year.