Hughes / Raytheon BGM-71 TOW / TOW-2

History

The BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile system was developed in the second half of the 1960s and became the primary anti-tank weapon system of the United States and its allies during the Cold War. Despite its Cold War origins, the TOW missile system is still deployed in large numbers today and has evolved into more lethal forms with each passing decade.

Despite the required line of sight and inherently bulky nature, the TOW enjoys a healthy range on today's modern battlefield and continues to be used successfully in several ongoing conflicts to this day. TOW missiles were the weapon of choice when they were used to kill Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Development of the TOW system took place from 1963 to 1968 under the direction of the Hughes Aircraft Company, initially known under the development name "XBGM-71". The name "TOW" comes from an acronym for the description "Tube Launch, Light Tracking, Wired Command Data Link, Guided Missile", which specifically describes its function. Likewise, the "BGM" designation is awkwardly abbreviated to the "Multiple Environment/Ground Attack/Missile" design (US Army nomenclature). After a period of testing and evaluation, TOW officially entered mass production in 1968 and officially entered service in 1970.

Since then, this weapon type has grown into one of the most widely used anti-tank missile systems of all time, with dozens of operators around the world bearing its name. While Hughes designed, developed and produced the original TOW missile, defense contractor Raytheon gradually took over their production in today's market.

The TOW missile system is not a small or light weapon and requires the use of a tripod or vehicle launcher to operate. The M151 launcher was originally developed for earlier TOW missiles, while the M220 series emerged with the development of the TOW-2. As a result, TOW has been installed on a variety of military vehicles, including JEEPs, armored personnel carriers (APCs), infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), and high mobility vehicles such as the ubiquitous Humvee.

In addition to ground operations, TOW is incorporated into airborne launch systems used by attack helicopters, including the Bell AH-1 Cobra series (M65 mount system). While TOW is considered a "human-portable" weapon system, it is cumbersome to deploy in this way and is primarily intended for vehicle-mounted use.

To date, starting with the original XBGM-71A development model, there have been a number of continuously improved forms of TOW. This was carried over to the original BGM-71A production design. The BGM-71B is based on the A-type series, but has increased range. The BGM-71C (Improved TOW, ITOW) follows the B-series model and results in a new shaped charge warhead with an extended probe attached to the nose cone for improved armor penetration values. The BGM-71D (TOW-2) followed, based on the BGM-71C production model.

Movement functions have been improved, as has guidance, and the warhead has been enlarged to improve armor penetration. The BGM-71E (TOW-2A) is based on the previous BGM-71D model, but with a redesigned tandem warhead to accommodate the content of the Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) panels that are widely used on armored vehicles around the world. The BGM-71F (TOW-2B) is also based on the BGM-71D production model and has been redesigned to attack armored vehicles using explosive-shaped penetrators along the more vulnerable upper panels. The BGM-71G is a proposed TOW variant based on the BGM-71F model with a new armor-piercing (AP) warhead, although it was never selected for mass production.

The BGM-71H was developed from the BGM-71E model and was used against fortifications - aka "Bunker Breaker" rounds. An extended-range version of the TOW 2B was developed as the TOW-2B "Aero", further developed into a wireless form known as the TOW-2B "Aero RF".

In addition to the United States, operators of TOW and TOW-2 derivatives include Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon and Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Yemen (among others). In Iran, a former U.S. ally, the TOW was reverse engineered as "Toophan" and is currently in production, although its quality and performance may be of questionable quality and performance compared to the real U.S. production form - which is almost always the case with reverse engineered products. Instead, according to the Egyptian Army The legal license to produce TOW locally. TOW systems in service in the UK are for helicopter use only.

The Pakistan Army received some 3,300 TOW-2A missile units sometime in 2006 to further enhance its anti-tank capabilities.

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