WASHINGTON — Ukraine’s armed forces seem to be destroying a lot of Russian tanks with the expensive, shoulder-fired missile systems that the West has given to Ukraine. Here are the details:


Reuters reports that U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent gift to Ukraine of $350 million worth of U.S. weapons brings the total U.S. assistance package to $1 billion over just the last year.


The donation includes a large number of Javelin anti-tank weapons.


The Javelin system has a day sight as well as an infrared sight for targeting armored vehicles at night.


The missile’s computer locks on to the target. A small charge blasts it out of the tube before the powerful rocket engine ignites.


Here, the folded fins pop out to steer the weapon to the target. The weapon can be fired directly at buildings, or the operator can set it to “top attack” mode, in which case the missile flies up to 150 meters before slamming down on a tank from above.


Once it gets close to the target, the missile’s first warhead detonates to activate the tank’s reactive armor.


After the reactive armor explodes, the main warhead detonates against the tank’s thin top armor, where the shaped charge of the warhead punches a hole through the armor, causing the tank’s ammunition to detonate.


The Javelin is a “fire and forget” system that can destroy tanks up to 2 kilometers away. It can defeat armor that’s up to 80 centimeters thick. The launcher can be reloaded, and each missile costs either $80,000 or $175,000 — depending on who you ask.