Raytheon to Produce More of the Popular Weapon 

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The United States Army has awarded Raytheon a $101.3 million to build radio-controlled, anti-tank missiles.

The Department of Defense has announced that the company will build the Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided missile, or TOW.

The TOW missile system is an incredibly popular weapon system, used by over 40 different armed forces worldwide including, Argentina, Japan, Canada, Israel, and many more.

First designed in the late 1960s by Hughes Aircraft and later produced by Raytheon, the missile fires a warhead weighing anywhere between 3.9 and 6.14 kilograms, depending on the variant. There are several different TOW variants, including a “Bunker Busting” variant.

The $85,000 missile is mainly used against enemy tanks and sometimes helicopters. The missile can be launched from light armored vehicles, Humvees, and from the field. Some versions of the missile can be fired from the AH-1W Cobra attack helicopter.

Spacedaily.com reports that the missile uses an optical missile sight that is attached to the launcher. The missile itself has a camera on it to assist in aiming, infrared sensors can also be attached if fired at night. 

The TOW missile utilizes semi-automatic aiming controls, which means that the TOW is aimed by having the operator keep the target in the missile’s line of sight.

Work on the missile will be conducted at Raytheon’s missile system plant in Arizona. Work is expected to be finished by the first of September, 2022.