by Marshall Brain | May 1, 2009
The acronym TOW stands for Tube-launched Optically-tracked Wire-guided. It is a way for a human to guide a missile to its destination while it is in flight. Relatively speaking, TOW is a simple technology that has been around for decades. It is still used today because the wires make the system nearly foolproof. The following videos provide more details:
The BGM-71 TOW:
One of the keys to the TOW’s effectiveness is the shaped charge, which allows it to punch through the armor plating of a tank:
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