Tow Missile

 

About the Cover :

Saft’s 28V Li-ion battery system replaced a silver-zinc battery on the ITAS system for the  TOW Missile. 

The TOW Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) is a material change to the current target acquisition and fire control subsystem used by first-to-fight, light infantry forces. ITAS increases target detection, acquisition, recognition and engagement ranges; fires all versions of the TOW missile from both the M41 ground launcher (dismount mode) and the M1121 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) platform; and provides a growth path for future missiles.

The ITAS includes a second-generation FLIR that uses Standard Advanced Dewar Assembly (SADA II) technology, an eyesafe laser rangefinder, and other digital components to address user-identified operational deficiencies. These improvements increase detection and identification ranges by a factor of 2X, increasing the probability of hit over the existing TOW 2.
The TOW ITAS provides a highly mobile, adverse weather, day or night capability needed by early entry forces to destroy advanced threat armor at greater standoff ranges in the main battle area.

The ITAS features an automatic boresighting capability, aided target tracking, embedded training, BIT/BITE, and traversing unit modifications. These features ensure crew survivability through increased standoff range and improved performance in the battlefield environment.

For More Information : Raytheon Company / TOW Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS)

The picture shows a TOW missile (anti-tank weapon) shoot from a M113 in the middle of the night. Picture is taken in Indre-Troms in the nothern parts of Norway.

A Stryker vehicle crew belonging to the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, fires a Tow missile during the brigade's rotation through Fort Polk's, Joint Readiness Training Center.

A soldier of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) looks through the sights of a TOW missile launcher at a building suspected of harboring Saddam Hussein's sons Qusay and Uday in Mosul, Iraq, on July 22, 2003. Qusay and Uday were killed in a gun battle as they resisted efforts by coalition forces to apprehend and detain them.   DoD photo by Staff Sgt. William Armstrong, U.S. Army.