National guardsmen destroyed the T-72B3 tank with Javelin ATGM

The National Guardsmen destroyed a Russian T-72B3 tank using the Javelin anti-tank missile system.

A video of the destruction was published on the official page of the National Guard of Ukraine on X.

The tank was destroyed by an accurate shot from the Javelin anti-tank system, designed to hit targets in the upper hemisphere.

The tank was destroyed in the Pokrovskyi sector, where soldiers of the 15th Operational Brigade of the National Guard are holding the line.

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.

The system operates on the “fire and forget” principle, which allows to leave the position after launching the missile and take a safer place after the launch.

Thanks to the use of a tandem warhead, the FGM-148 missile can effectively overcome the reactive armor of Russian tanks, which is also mounted on the turret.

The tandem warhead consists of two back-to-back warheads. The first or “preliminary” charge is activated first and is designed to penetrate the reactive armor.

Then, the main charge is activated, which is designed to penetrate the tank’s main armor in the roof area, where it is the thinnest, ensuring the effective destruction of heavy armored vehicles.

The use of tandem warheads is relevant in the war against Russia, as most Russian tanks are equipped with Kontakt-1, Kontakt-5, and Relict reactive armor units, which have high potential against old-style anti-tank weapons.

Militarnyi previously reported that the Russian defense industry enterprise Uralvagonzavod had updated the modernization package for the T-72B3 main battle tanks.

“Uralvagonzavod has already modified the T-72B3 tank several times since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In the fall of 2022, the first wartime modification appeared, unofficially known as the T-72B3M mod. 2022 (obr. 2022). It featured additional reactive armor on the lower armor plate, hull sides, turret, track arms, and gun mask, as well as a remote-controlled thermal sighting device.

In addition, armor was installed to protect the tower ring, as well as mounts for a makeshift roof screen, also known as a casing.

At the same time, the Russian defense industry faced a shortage of necessary components, including electronics. As a result, some tanks received a simpler 1PN96MT-02 thermal imaging sight instead of the Sosna-U multichannel stabilized sight.