Raytheon to build TOW
radio-controlled anti-tank missiles
BY John Keller
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — The
Raytheon Co. will build radio-controlled anti-tank missiles for the
U.S. Army and the military forces
of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon under
terms of a $31.5 million order.
Officials of the U.S. Army
Contracting Command at Redstone
Arsenal, Ala., are asking Raytheon
Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz., to
build the Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wireless-Guided munition,
better-known as the TOW missile.
The Army Contracting Command
is placing the order on behalf of
the Army Aviation and Missile
Command at Redstone Arsenal.
Versions of the TOW missile have
been in the U.S. inventory since 1970.
The multimission TOW 2A,
TOW 2B, TOW 2B aero, and TOW
bunker-buster missile is one of
the primary precision anti-armor,
anti-fortification, and anti-amphibi-ous landing weapons used throughout the world today.
TOW missiles can be fired
from all TOW launchers, includ-
ing the Improved Target Acquisition
Systems (ITAS), Stryker anti-tank
guided missile vehicle (modified
ITAS), and Bradley Fighting Vehicles
(Improved Bradley Acquisition
Subsystem). TOW launchers can be
mounted to a wide variety of vehi-
cles, including the Humvee, and
can be placed in improvised ground
fortifications for front-line infan-
try use. Versions of the TOW mis-
sile also can be fired from Light
Armored Vehicle–Anti-tank and U.S.
Marine Corps AH-1W Cobra attack
helicopter.
To fire the TOW missile, the operator uses an optical missile sight
attached to the launcher. The sight is
data linked to the missile. Wireless
TOW missiles include an RF transmitter added to the missile case and
an RF receiver located inside the
missile. When the missile fires, the
RF transmitter in the launcher relays
information to the missile while in
flight. The operator keeps the sight
fixed on the target — even if the target is moving — to guide the missile to its target. Original versions
of the TOW, which were called the
tube-launched, optically-tracked,
wire-guided missile, trailed a thin
wire that relayed information to the
missile from the sight.
On this order, Raytheon will
do the work in Tucson, Ariz., and
Farmington, N.M., and should be
finished by December 2018. Í
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit
Raytheon Missile Systems online
at www.raytheon.com.
Reinventing electronic
warfare with investment
in new technologies
The Pentagon’s recently completed electronic warfare strategy calls for increased investment
in advanced electronic warfare
(EW) technology designed for
defense, as well as a proactive
use of emerging electromagnetic
spectrum systems to attack enemies. The vision of the electronic warfare strategy is to be agile,
adaptive, and integrate EW to
offensively achieve electromagnetic spectrum superiority across
the range of military operations.
Goals include organizing the EW
enterprise to ensure electromagnetic spectrum superiority, training and equipping EW forces, and
strengthening partnerships with
allies, industry, and academia.
This U.S. Department of Defense
(DOD) EW strategy took on new
urgency following Russia’s successful use of advanced EW technologies in Ukraine and the pace
of global technological progress
in the area of EW systems.
BAE, General Dynamics,
Airbus to develop tactical
hotspot for British Army
BAE Systems, Airbus, and
General Dynamics (GD) have
partnered to develop the Strike
Tactical Hotspot concept demonstrator, a new network technology for the British Army. Tactical
Hotspot is a compact mobile digital communications set that
can be deployed securely in
Operators control the TOW missile in flight using
radio links between its launcher and the missile.
