A joint venture company of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin is touting the delivery of its 40,000th Javelin shoulder-fired anti-armor missile system to the U.S. Army.

The Javelin is made by Javelin Joint Venture. It is a fire-and-forget system that guides itself to its target and first came into service in 1996.

"Javelin provides a real battlefield advantage for U.S. and allied warfighters," said Richard Benton, Javelin Joint Venture vice president and Javelin program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Javelin's reliability, accuracy and lethality make it a key weapon in operators' arsenals.

"The attention to detail that our entire production team, including our subcontractors, give to the Javelin missile have made this significant production milestone possible."

Javelin Joint Venture said the missile has a 94 percent effectiveness rate in combat operations. Recent tests have also shown its adaptability to many platforms, including tripods, trucks and lightly armored vehicles.

The missile has an effective range of as much as 2,500 yards and is equipped with an imaging infrared guidance system.

"The Javelin Joint Venture is providing U.S. and allied warfighters with an affordable, versatile and lethal one-man-portable, anti-armor, guided missile and superior battlefield surveillance system," said John Halvey, Javelin Joint Venture president and program manager at Raytheon. "The industry and government Javelin team is committed to providing warfighters with the most advanced close combat weapons on the battlefield."