Joe Biden tours Javelin ‘tank killer’ missile factory, urges billions for Ukraine
- The United States has provided 5,500 Javelins, or a third of its stockpile, to Ukraine
- Javelin’s arched missile flight allows targeting of an armoured vehicle’s weakest point
Standing in front of stacks of Javelin missiles at an Alabama factory, US President Joe Biden told workers assembling the weapon, which has been wreaking havoc on Russian tanks in Ukraine, that they are part of a historic battle for democracy.
“These weapons touched by the hands, your hands, are in the hands of Ukrainian heroes, making a significant difference,” Biden said at the Lockheed Martin facility in Troy, Alabama, which has produced more than 50,000 of the tank-busting rockets in the last two decades.
Biden told workers they should be “proud” of their role in the mammoth US and allied Western push to arm Ukraine in its struggle against Russian invasion.
With the West’s help, Ukraine’s forces are “making fools of the Russian military in many instances,” he said.
Biden called on Congress to pass quickly his request for a mammoth new aid package worth US$33 billion – the majority of that in more weaponry and some of the funds going simply to replenishing the US military’s own stocks.
“This fight is not going to be cheap, but caving to aggression would be even more costly,” Biden said.