TOW

The BGM-71 TOW is an American anti-tank missile. First produced in 1968, TOW is one of the most widely used anti-tank guided missiles. It can be found in a wide variety of manually carried and vehicle-mounted forms, as well as in widespread use on helicopters. Originally designed by Hughes Aircraft in the 1960s, the weapon is currently produced by RTX. TOW was designed to address the shortcomings of previous missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC. In particular, there was a desire to improve the guidance system to make it easier to use, and greatly increase effective range. Earlier designs generally used a small joystick to directly control the missile's flight while the operator attempted to get it to line up with the target, a concept now known as MACLOS. In practice, users tended to overcorrect and fly the missile back and forth across the target.