FGM-148 Javelin

The FGM-148 Javelin is an American-made, man-portable third generation Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) launcher manufactured by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

The Javelin was designed to replace the aging M47 Dragon anti-tank missile, previously used by the United States during 1975 - 1995.

In real life, the Javelin's missile is capable of penetrating a main battle tank's base and explosive reactive armor. It does this by utilizing two shaped-charge warheads in tandem. The smaller warhead detonates the explosive reactive armor allowing the larger warhead to penetrate the tank's base armor.

Battlefield 3
"A shoulder launched AntiTank missile with both Direct and Top Attack modes. A Fire-and-Forget system requires a lock on before launch, but the missile will guide itself to the target. When firing on Laser Designated targets the Javelin automatically uses Top Attack mode, which is exceptionally powerful against enemy armor."

- Battlelog description

The FGM-148 Javelin makes its debut appearance on Battlefield 3. It was first seen in the Battlefield 3: Caspian Border Gameplay kill feed committing a double kill.

Single Player
The FGM-148 Javelin is only available during the Single Player campaign mission Operation Guillotine, where it is first used by a USMC anti-armor team to destroy a T-90 that had Blackburn's squad pinned down; it is later used by Blackburn to destroy the remaining enemy tanks assaulting the bank.

Co-Op
The FGM-148 Javelin appears in the mission Operation Exodus where it is the secondary weapon of both players. It is used to destroy the incoming enemy armored personnel carriers, alternatively, the players could place M15 AT Mines immediately at the start of the mission where the enemy APC's will drive over and detonate the mines.

It takes up to three hits from the Javelin to destroy an enemy BMP-2 when attacking its frontal armor; two hits will critically damage the APC causing an engine fire.

Ammunition for all weapons, including the Javelin can be replenished at a near-by ammo crate.

Multiplayer
The FGM-148 Javelin is the last unlockable anti-vehicle weapon for the Engineer kit, requiring 82,000 points to unlock. It is capable of locking on to any ground vehicle within line-of-sight and within range. It can also receive targets via laser designation, allowing it to attack air vehicles. The Javelin's targeting ability can be hindered by Thermal Camouflage or Stealth, and defeated by IR Smoke or IR Flares.

By default, the Javelin uses 'Direct Attack' mode, which attacks vehicles directly, generally hitting their front, side or rear armor. When attacking a laser-designated target, the Javelin automatically switches to 'Top Attack' mode, doing up to twice the damage by launching the missile high into the air and then hitting the vehicle from the top almost always gaining a disable or kill on the targeted tank.

Up to mid-range, the Javelin could be previously forced to attack from a higher angle without laser designation by quickly aiming high just before launching the weapon (and losing weapon lock). The initial booster helped lob the missile high into the air, helping it strike from a higher angle even though it is still in "Direct Attack" mode. As of the latest patch this tactic does not longer work but instead causes the missile to do a loop backwards and then continue to its target as normal. This tactic can still be used to "bank" the missile around corners but not above obstacles as before.

The Javelin can detect and attack certain deployable devices using direct attack mode:
 * MAV
 * Radio Beacon
 * M224 Mortar

One tactic of the Javelin is to have a squad mate using a SOFLAM, and then work together to take down vehicles in the SOFLAM's line of sight, this is an effective tactic because most of the time pilots of helicopters think that a SOFLAM's laser designation is an anti-air missile, meaning that they deploy their flares making them an easy target for the javelin user to take the shot. To make this tactic worthwhile you will most commonly need:
 * A Support to give out ammo for the Javelin.
 * An Engineer to shoot the Javelin.
 * A Recon to operate the SOFLAM.
 * (optional) Another Recon further behind to eliminate ground troops that are threatening you.

Trivia

 * In Battlefield 3, the Javelin can lock on to Unpainted MAVs.