Members of the Poland’s Territorial Defence Forces completed Operator Training June 2, 2021, and are now certified to maintain and operate Javelin, as well as conduct their own training.

In 2020, through a Foreign Military Sale, the Poland Territorial Defence Forces (TDF) purchased Javelin missiles, Command Launch Units and Operator Training. To celebrate the conclusion of the training, the TDF’s newly trained Javelin operators successfully fired missiles during a demonstration on June 17.

To support the training, three Javelin Joint Venture team members, Rick Kelley, Jay Fisher and Brian Heather, trained the students in person in Poland, while ensuring the appropriate COVID-19 precautions were taken.

“In between our travel to and from Poland, we quarantined and took multiple COVID tests in an effort to protect the safety of all involved,” said Kelley. “This extra attention to safety added complexity to our operator training – but due to Javelin’s minimal training requirements, we were able to train and certify dozens of students within approximately three months.”

Only 72 hours of classroom training is required to train and certify Javelin operators.

“Students don’t need to fire a live round to become certified operators,” said Kelley. “This allows customers to certify multiple operators without having to fund additional rounds for training purposes.”

The Poland Territorial Defence Forces’ training consisted of three phases. During the first phase, students they learn how to operate and fire Javelin. In the second phase, the students become “instructors.” In the third and final phase, the students become certified.

“Not only can the Poland Territorial Defence Forces operate Javelin, but this certification also allows them to train their other operators throughout the service,” said Kelley. “This, combined with Javelin’s multi-purpose warhead, equips Javelin users for a variety of missions– without a limited number of operators, or the need to switch out rounds for different missions.”

The Poland Territorial Defence Forces will now conduct their own Operator Training across the service.

“Throughout the training, it was our priority to ensure the TDF’s Javelin operators are fully prepared to implement training across the service,” said Kelley. “It was rewarding to see this come to fruition and witness the students successfully fire Javelin during the demonstration. I look forward to seeing their knowledge expand across the TDF – ensuring the service is prepared for Javelin operation wherever their missions take them.”

Javelin is developed and produced by the Javelin Joint Venture, a partnership of Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Lockheed Martin. This anti-tank guided missile system offers fire-and-forget capability over its full range – up to 4 kilometers in most operational conditions.