Ukraine's defence against Russia is being supported by billions of dollars in military aid from NATO countries. The Biden administration has so far authorized 2.6 billion in security assistance since Russia's invasion of Ukraine during the entirety of the Biden administration spent about 3.2 billion. One of the most effective and expensive weapons systems supplied is the FGM 148 javelin. The Javelin is Co-manufactured between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and it is a portable anti-armour system. This means the Javelin is designed to take out hard targets like modern tanks and armoured personnel carriers or APCs. At a cost of close to 176,000$ per system. The Javelin is not a cheap weapon of war. It also uses many high tech components, which means that it takes time to make new ones.
So the stated sort of maximum production capacity per annum is about 6800 missiles. We think that basically, the USA sent over 7000 missiles of his stocks. So the US has now exceeded the number of missiles that they can replenish in a year. The biggest challenge for the industrial base will be in gearing up to replace the weapons that the US is supplying to Ukraine. What is the javelin? How is the Ukrainian military use it? And can the US keep up with demand for not just Ukraine, but for the US military and other allies who want to buy this versatile weapon system?
The US has been providing weapons and training to Ukraine for years and once Russia invaded the US and allies went all in to resupply the Ukrainian military. So to date, the US has transferred more than 5500 javelins into the theatre and Ukraine because it's proving to be a highly effective weapon system on the battlefield. aid is now flowing, particularly anti-tank I would put it in the category of sufficient now arriving too late. Much of that I think should have been there last year. In the cost-benefit analysis of a javelin versus a tank, javelins aren't cheap. As they go, you're looking at about 200 grand right for missle and A CLU but you're looking at several million for a tank. It's a cheaper weapon than this was a much more expensive platform.
Although Ukraine has managed to hold off Russian forces in key areas, the war is likely far from over. Russian forces in the South East of Ukraine have embarked on a new offensive. This includes forces that were previously positioned near the Capitol but were pulled back and repositioned to support this new push by Russia. The terrain in the east is a lot more open, there's a bit they'll be less emphasis on like small with light infantry ambushes and Russian columns and cities and sort of like wooded areas. And most of the open terrain artillery duels. The weather's weather is getting nicer, and the mud is drying, which means cross country mobility will be restored. In the East, it is what we would call the military tank countrywide open rolling plains where you're going to need longer range heavier systems. And that's why many others have been demanding the Biden administration send more sophisticated weaponry and send it faster.
The first idea for the javelin was pushed out in a memo in 1983. The concept which took over a decade to develop was to make an anti-tank missile that could be guided by infrared and could do a top-down attack on the lightly armoured areas of Soviet armour. once you get a lock through the through the what they call the CLU, which is the operating system. Once you get a lock onto the tank and then fire the missile, you can seek cover, the previous systems had a wire that's that unspooled behind the missile and you had to stay locked on the tank the entire time that the missile was travelling. The sort of top attack or lofted flight as it's sometimes referred to, which is sort of like you know the curve, the curve flight with a missile takes a steep launch trajectory flies sort of level for a while and then sort of dives on to the target.
The effectiveness of these weapons has also shone a light on the processes needed to create them. We don't know where and when the next kinetic war will be and producing new weapons surging production lines takes time, the US has so far provided a pretty substantial number of javelins, for example to Ukraine. And this may be a time when we might want to think about how we invest in increasing the inventory of precision-guided weapons and other weapons and missiles.
Taking javelins from the existing us inventory depletes American stockpiles of these high tech weapons for every javelin, that gets shipped out. It is one less that can be used for training or war. So eventually, NATO members as well as the United States are going to have to turn to the defence industry to resupply their Arsenal. For a lot of these weapon systems but especially for javelin, the production lines have been designed to produce the number of systems that DOD and its partners plan to buy inefficiently, replacing them will require a manufacturing surge which must be carefully managed and may not happen overnight.
Lockheed martin stock price change in 1 year, yahoo
Both Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have seen a boost to their stock prices since the invasion on February 15, Lockheed was at $382 per share. And as of April 28, was at $441 per share return was at around $94 per share on February 15, and as of April 28, is at $98 per share.
The future of Ukraine remains blurry, but how the Ukrainian military uses billion dollars of aid could play a major role in the end result. The simple presence and the vast number of these weapons give Ukrainians options. It's a fact that the Russians had to factor in as well. You know, if I was a Russian tanker, the amount of anti-tank weapons in that country would probably make me have sleepless nights. Russia's invasion has rattled the world order other hotspots could develop that would require the US military to have ample amounts of high tech weapons to either use for its purposes or to give to a partner country. This may be a time where we might want to think about how we invest in increasing the inventory of precision-guided weapons and other weapons and missiles every missile you buy may mean you know less money for training less money for research and development of exciting new technologies. So there are a lot of budget trade-offs to consider.
Raytheon stock price change in 1 year, yahoo
As for the javelins battlefield performance, it may be some time until hard data emerges about how effective it has been in Ukraine, but there could be ways the US government could help the Ukrainians employ them better today. The US doesn't have folks on the ground. And I think that is a policy decision that the US should reconsider, you know, that we could do so covertly. And the US could do so with small numbers of intelligence officers and special operators to get out there, advise operate even not necessarily in the very frontline, but perhaps in the command and control and headquarters level. To get visibility on how effectively the Ukrainians are employing the systems help them with the operational knowledge. I think the US could help them be more effective if we had advisors alongside but we'd have to do that in very small numbers very selectively and very quietly.