![]() Her first operational use occurred during the American involvement in the Vietnam War where the TOW was fitted to the XM26 helicopter mount (for the Bell UH-1 Huey series) for operational evaluation in the conflict. Early US Army anti-tank missile weapons were notably European in nature and the TOW represented the first such indigenous design. Upon inception, the TOW missile was quick to replace outmoded anti-tank missile and recoilless rifle weapons then in service with the United States Army. While Hughes designed, developed and produced the original TOW missiles, defense powerhouse Raytheon has gradually taken over their production in today's market. Since then, the weapon type has gone on to become one of the most widely-accepted anti-tank missile systems ever developed with several dozen operators across the globe to her name. ![]() After a period of testing and evaluation, the TOW was officially accepted into serial production in 1968 and formally entered service in 1970. Similarly, the "BGM" designation awkwardly abbreviated its "Multiple Environment / Surface Attack / Missile" design (US Army nomenclature). The "TOW" name stemmed from the abbreviation covering the description "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire command data link, guided missile" which specifically described its function. The TOW missile was the weapon of choice when it was used to kill Saddam Hussein sons Uday and Qusay in 2003 following the American invasion of Iraq.ĭevelopment of the TOW system stemmed from 1963 to 1968 under the leadership of the Hughes Aircraft Company and initially known under its developmental designation "XBGM-71". ![]() Despite its line-of-sight requirement and inherently bulky nature, the TOW enjoys a healthy reach on the modern battlefields of today, being successfully utilized in several ongoing conflicts to date. Despite its Cold War origins, the TOW missile system is still deployed in large numbers today and has been evolved into more lethal forms with each passing decade. The BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile weapon system was developed in the latter half of the 1960s to become the primary anti-armor weapon system of the United States and its allies during the Cold War.
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