(CNN) When Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine a year ago, most observers expected a quick victory for the invaders.
These early predictions of Russian success have not materialized as experts cite a variety of factors, including higher morale and superior military tactics on the Ukrainian side, but also – crucially – the supply of Western arms.
While recent headlines have talked a lot about the potential of western main battle tanks or Patriot air defense systems to influence the outcome of the war, these systems have yet to be deployed in combat in Ukraine.
But there are other weapons that have already helped change the course of the war. Here are three keys that the Ukrainians have used to devastating effect.
Ukrainian armed forces fire a Javelin anti-tank missile during exercises at a training ground in 2022.
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At the very beginning of the war, fighters on both sides expected Russian tank columns to roll into the Ukrainian capital of Kiev within days.
The Ukrainians needed something that could repel this attack – and they found it in the form of the Javelin, a shoulder-launched, guided anti-tank missile that can be deployed by a single person.
Part of its appeal lies in its ease of use, as manufacturer Lockheed Martin, who co-developed the missile with Raytheon, explains: “To fire, the gunner places a cursor over the selected target. The Javelin command launch unit then sends a lock-on-before-launch signal to the missile.”
The Javelin is a fire and forget weapon. Once the operator fires the shot, they can take cover while the missile finds its way to the target.
This was particularly important in the early days of the war, as Russians tended to stay in columns when attempting to enter urban areas. A Javelin operator could shoot from a building or behind a tree and be gone before the Russians could fire back.
According to Lockheed Martin, the Javelin is also good at targeting the weak point of Russian tanks – their horizontal surfaces – as its trajectory curves upwards after launch and then falls on the target from above.
This was seen in pictures early in the war of Russian tanks with their turrets blown off. Often it was a javelin that did the damage.
In fact, the Javelins’ influence was so great that two and a half months after the war began, US President Joe Biden visited the Alabama plant, where they commended the workforce for helping defend Ukraine.
“You’re making a gigantic difference to these poor sons of guns who are under such tremendous, tremendous pressure and firepower,” Biden said at the time.
The javelins had another advantage that was particularly relevant early in the war: they were politically acceptable.
“Their low cost and defensive use make it politically easier for other countries to deploy them,” wrote Michael Armstrong, an associate professor at Brock University in Ontario, in the Conversation. “In contrast, governments do not agree on sending more expensive offensive weapons such as fighter jets.”
HIMARS
The US Army’s full name is M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. It’s “a battle-tested, battle-tested, all-weather, 24/7 lethal and highly responsive wheeled precision percussion weapon system,” says the U.S. Army.
That’s a mouthful, but to put it more bluntly, HIMARS is a 5-ton truck with a pod capable of launching six missiles almost simultaneously, sending its explosive warheads well beyond the front lines of the battlefield, and then quickly switching positions to to avoid a counterattack.
“If Javelin was the iconic weapon of the early phases of the war, HIMARS is the iconic weapon of the later phases,” wrote Mark Cancian, senior adviser to the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in January.
HIMARS fires munitions called the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), which has a range of 70 to 80 kilometers (about 50 miles). And their GPS guidance systems make them extremely accurate, within about 10 meters (33 feet) of their intended target.
Last July, Russian reporter Roman Sapenkov said he witnessed a HIMARS attack on a Russian base at Kherson Airport in an area then occupied by Moscow forces.
“I was struck by the fact that the whole package, five or six rockets, practically landed on a penny,” he wrote.
HIMARS had two key effects, Yagil Henkin, a professor at the Israel Defense Forces Command and Staff College, wrote for US Marine Corps University Press.
The strikes have “forced the Russians to move their ammunition depots farther back, reducing available Russian artillery firepower near the front lines and making logistical support more difficult,” Henkin wrote.
And using the long-range missiles to hit targets like bridges has disrupted Russia’s supply efforts, he said.
The HIMARS system is manufactured and patented in the United States by Lockheed Martin.
A Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone during a rehearsal for an Independence Day military parade in Kiev, Ukraine, on August 20, 2021.
Bayraktar TB2 drone
The Turkey-designed drone has become one of the most famous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the world due to its use in the Ukraine war.
It’s relatively cheap, made with off-the-shelf parts, packs a deadly punch, and records its kills on video.
Those videos have shown it taking out Russian tanks, artillery, and supply lines with the missiles, laser-guided missiles, and smart bombs it carries.
“TB2 viral videos are a perfect example of modern warfare in the TikTok era,” wrote Aaron Stein, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, on the Atlantic Council’s website.
The Bayraktar TB2 isn’t a “magic weapon,” but it’s “good enough,” he wrote.
As weaknesses he cited the lack of speed and vulnerability to air defense. Battlefield stats seem to back this up. According to open-source intelligence website Oryx, 17 of the 40-50 TB2 received by Ukraine were destroyed in combat.
But Stein says the number of casualties is outweighed by the drone’s low cost, meaning they’re relatively easy to replace.
In fact, even before the war the plan was in the works to set up an assembly line for the drones in Ukraine. And the use of the drones may have saved the lives of Ukrainian pilots who would otherwise have had to carry out the missions.
Recent reports from Ukraine suggest the TB2 may play a lesser role as Russian forces figure out how to fight it, but its fans say it delivered when Ukraine’s position was at its most precarious.
His videos of Russian killings were “a great morale booster,” Samuel Bendett, adjunct senior fellow at the Center of Naval Analyzes Russia Studies (CNAS), told CNN early in the war.
“It’s a PR victory.”
A music video was even filmed on the TB2. This is the status it has gained among Ukrainians.