By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington DC)
Ukraine’s successful anti-armor campaign has been decimating Russian tanks for months with highly effective weapons such as the Javelin, Carl Gustaf and the Next-Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW), each able to exact a particular and uniquely destructive impact upon Russian armored vehicles. Many have heard countless anecdotal accounts and open-source documentation of top-down fired Javelins destroying Russian T-90s and T-72 tanks. The Carl Gustaf, a recoilless shoulder-fired anti-armor weapon has also been extremely damaging to Russian armored forces and Swedish NLAWs have proven particularly effective at close ranges from inside buildings.
What about the classic TOW missile?
The TOW missile is a lesser recognized but still quite significant element of Ukraine’s ongoing and successful anti-armor arsenal, despite the fact that the weapon was fired used in combat during the Vietnam War decades ago. The weapon seems almost timeless when it comes to its continued effectiveness and relevance throughout the passage of time, yet upgrades to the weapon have overall been pretty marginal.
TOW Missiles Attack Russian Tanks
Firing from Bradley Fighting Vehicles, HMMWVs, helicopters and dismounted tripods, Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided TOW anti-tank missiles have been destroying armor for decades.
Beginning with its first combat use in Vietnam, the TOW missile has appeared in virtually every major conflict up until the war in Ukraine, including the Persian Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and many others throughout the years. The TOW missile is now the most widely used anti-tank missile in the world and is currently in use with more than 45 countries. There are many variants and, according to Military Today, as many as 650,000 have been made. The weapon began production in the 1950s with Hughes Aircraft Company, a firm which went on to be acquired by Raytheon.
Despite emerging in the 1950s, the TOW missile continues to prove relevant and impactful today and has even been used effectively in the Russia-Ukraine war. The missile calls upon interesting technology, some of which has evolved in recent years. The write up in Military-Today says the TOW missile has semi-automatic guidance which, unlike a fire and forget weapon, requires the shooter to maintain line-of-sight-connectivity with the target until the missile strikes.
“The sensor corrects the trajectory of the missile by sending electrical signals that are passed on by two wires. The communication by wires with the missile can not be jammed by the enemy,” the Military Today essay writes.
While beginning as a wire-guided missile, upgrades in 2006 and 2007 integrated a “wireless” guidance system into the TOW as well. The weapon, which can penetrate armor, can fire at ranges of 3000m, which is about 2 miles.
The TOW is still very much a relevant and important weapon, and additional upgrades to the range, warhead or guidance systems are likely to emerge in the future. However, as a 1950s-era weapon the TOW missile cannot match the US Army’s upgraded Javelin anti-tank missile which has continued to decimate Russian tanks in Ukraine. It may not be clear which variants of the Javelin are being used by Ukraine, yet the US Army is vastly improving the range, targeting sites and explosive technology for its Javelins.
Raytheon and Lockheed have upgraded the Javelin’s targeting, range, and lethality with software upgrades and innovations of great consequence. Raytheon has engineered a new Lightweight Command Launch Unit (CLU) over the last several years that actually doubles the range.Several years ago, Army officials with the Javelin Product Office, Program Executive Office Missiles & Space told Warrior Maven that the new Lightweight CLU reduces weight by 30 percent, and Raytheon developers said the CLU has a constant zoom targeting technology able to pinpoint targets from much greater distances.
Other Javelin upgrades include the introduction of “fast-lock” targeting technology, which improves the ability to lock on and destroy a moving target. As for explosives, Raytheon and the Army have also been developing new warheads for the Javelin.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University
