I think there is good tactical reason for it and I trust these guys have been doing it long enough to not waste ordinance. I can think of at least one advantage for use with UAV which I won’t speculate on here in the incredibly unlikely event that I might be right.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

As a former 0352, you need to fire the javelin from the CLU for any of the special javelin sauce to work. There is no “firing” of this missile in the traditional sense once it’s out of its tube. Firing it as intended would probably be the most effective option, however you need line of site to engage with that weapons system. Using a drone to deliver the explosive portion of the missile allows for Ukrainian troops to stay out of direct line of site bc drone, so while less materially effective, prolly way more effective in terms of Ukrainian lives which is what matters most.

Part of my soul is sad to know that little guy won’t be able to live out his *PHUNK* *KAWWWOOOOSSSHHHH* *KABOOM* dreams, but if he gets to kill some invaders, save some Ukrainians, and is happy then I’m happy. Better than getting teased by trying to bracket camels and taking bets on whether it would track.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Okay but hear me out. A remote CLU drone capable of giving the instructions.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I didn’t immediately recognise the mos so I googled and the first result is someone trying to ensure they get selected for it haha. I wouldn’t expect it to be fired from the drone but again I won’t guess why because others will speculate too and we’ll be crowd sourcing intel.

Part of my soul is sad to know that little guy won’t be able to live out his PHUNK KAWWWOOOOSSSHHHH KABOOM dreams

This had no right being as loud and satisfying as it was.

Better than getting teased by trying to bracket camels and taking bets on whether it would track.

This I would love to hear more about if you feel like it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

That last part means he was a bored soldier in the middle east, with no use for it, just playing with the tracking instruments.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Yeah - you fight with what you have. If what you have isn’t exactly what you need, you fuck around with it until it is. Battlefield exigencies trump “you’re doing it wrong”/“that’s not what it’s for”. If you’re in a life and death situation, and you really fucking need a hammer, and all you have is an iPad… well, the iPad becomes a hammer.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

It does make me wonder though, if there is a need for just the warhead portion of these weapons and not always for the whole missile and launcher, if it might not make sense to get the manufacturer to just make some of the warhead bit by itself and send a delivery with a few of the systems replaced with the extra loose warheads, to use aid resources (and the time of whoever is taking the missile apart again) more efficiently.