The BGM-71 TOW is a U.S. heavy anti-tank guided missile built around tube launch, optical tracking, and command guidance through a wire or later radio-frequency link. Developed by Hughes and now produced and upgraded by Raytheon, the family spans dismounted launchers, HMMWVs, Bradley and Stryker vehicles, light armored vehicles, and helicopters. Its record runs from helicopter launches in the Vietnam War through Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Ukrainian service or transfer evidence.
U.S. Army history records TOW missiles first fired in combat in May 1972 from UH-1B helicopters in South Vietnam, with helicopter crews later engaging North Vietnamese tanks and armored vehicles.
Army Redstone history records TOW missiles fired from Marine AH-1T helicopters on the first day of Operation Desert Storm and credits M901 Improved TOW Vehicles with Iraqi tank kills during the Gulf War campaign.
Role detailsU.S. Army reporting describes TOW ITAS, Bradley IBAS, and Stryker MITAS as precision assault and antitank fire systems used in Operation Iraqi Freedom since 2003, while DoD imagery documents 101st Airborne soldiers firing a TOW missile in Mosul on July 22, 2003.
Role detailsThe Army reported TOW ITAS upgrades reaching forward operating bases in Afghanistan in 2009 and described the system as compatible with all TOW missile versions, including bunker-buster rounds used in combat.
Role detailsSIPRI identifies U.S. second-hand BGM-71F TOW-2B anti-tank missiles delivered to Ukraine beginning in 2022 as aid after Russia's full-scale invasion, including for M2 infantry fighting vehicles; DoD's August 2022 package publicly announced 1,500 TOW missiles for Ukraine's land-domain anti-armor needs against Russian armor.
Role detailsSyrian opposition forces used U.S.-supplied TOW-2A missiles as anti-tank guided weapons against Syrian government armor; Bellingcat documented heavy visually confirmed rebel ATGM use in 2015-2020 and identified the BGM-71E TOW family among those weapons.
Role detailsHouthi-aligned forces used Iranian Toophan/TOW-family anti-tank guided missiles as direct-fire weapons; U.S. Defense Department reporting described a Toophan obtained by Saudi Arabia on the battlefield and used by the Houthis in Yemen, while CSIS documented Toophan/TOW ATGMs and related equipment interdicted during the war.
Role detailsU.S. reporting in 2015 described BGM-71 TOW missiles being supplied to Iraqi Security Forces for the counter-ISIS ground fight, while Long War Journal reporting documented Islamic State use of U.S.-made TOW missiles near Palmyra and in the Hasakah offensive in Syria.
Role detailsDuring the 2013-2017 Iraq campaign against Islamic State, U.S. reporting described BGM-71 TOW missiles being supplied to Iraqi Security Forces for the ground fight in Iraq.
The TOW family is best read as a command-guided missile line rather than a single fixed round. Launchers, sights, and missile variants changed over time while retaining the same basic operator-tracked anti-armor role.
| Feature | Source-backed context | Catalog treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Guidance path | Army and Raytheon sources describe optical tracking with command guidance through wire links or later one-way radio-frequency links. | Specifications separate classic wire guidance from RF variants instead of treating every TOW round as wire-guided. |
| TOW 2B top attack | Army and Marine Corps manuals describe BGM-71F/TOW 2B as a fly-over/shoot-down missile that flies above the line of sight and fires downward EFP projectiles when it senses the target below. | The BGM-71F row is treated as a TOW-family variant with distinct attack-profile specifications, not as a separate duplicate page. |
| Launch architecture | Sources place TOW on ground tripods, HMMWVs, Bradley and Stryker vehicles, light armored vehicles, and helicopters. | Relationship sections link representative carrier and launcher records where the catalog has published entries. |
| Warhead branches | Specialist and manufacturer sources distinguish baseline, improved, tandem-warhead, top-attack, bunker-buster, and RF branches. | The variant table records those branches as designation context without creating separate pages for every missile mark. |
| Conflict evidence | Official and high-quality secondary sources document different TOW-family appearances across Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, and counter-ISIS fighting. | Conflict-use rows use direct conflict-specific sources and do not infer a conflict row from general TOW service history alone. |
Sources: TOW; TOW Weapon System; Raytheon (Hughes) BGM-71 TOW; FMFRP 6-90-1 Tow Weapon System; TOW System Upgrade Goes To Troops In Afghanistan.
TOW designations track a long upgrade path: early wire-guided missiles gave way to Improved TOW and TOW 2 models, then tandem-warhead, top-attack, bunker-buster, and radio-frequency-control variants.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| BGM-71A Basic TOW | Original wire-guided missile | The initial production TOW entered service around 1970 and is the baseline for the family designation. Sources: TOW, Raytheon (Hughes) BGM-71 TOW |
| BGM-71C Improved TOW | Improved armor-penetration missile | Improved TOW introduced a probe-equipped warhead configuration before the later TOW 2 family. Sources: Raytheon (Hughes) BGM-71 TOW |
| BGM-71D TOW 2 | TOW 2 missile | TOW 2 increased missile and warhead capability while retaining command-guided TOW employment. |
| BGM-71E TOW 2A | Tandem-warhead TOW 2 | TOW 2A is the tandem-warhead branch associated with defeating explosive reactive armor. |
| BGM-71F TOW 2B | Top-attack TOW 2 | TOW 2B is the BGM-71F fly-over/shoot-down top-attack branch: the gunner tracks center mass while the missile flies above the line of sight and fires downward EFP projectiles over the target. Sources: TOW, TOW Weapon System, Raytheon (Hughes) BGM-71 TOW, FMFRP 6-90-1 Tow Weapon System, TOW 2A / 2B |
| TOW Bunker Buster | Blast-fragmentation missile | Army reporting from Afghanistan and Iraq identifies TOW bunker-buster rounds as part of the ITAS-compatible missile set. |
| TOW 2 RF | Radio-frequency command-link variant | Raytheon describes modern TOW 2 variants with a one-way radio-frequency link as an alternative to the classic wire command link. Sources: TOW Weapon System |
| Carrier | Carrier type | Carriage evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Armed helicopter | GlobalSecurity lists the A109 as an armament option carrying BGM-71 TOW antitank missiles. Sources: GlobalSecurity A109 specifications |
The TOW family appears on the Bv 206-based Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 2063 in the same Security & Defence European article that describes the vehicle's anti-tank fit.
| Carrier | Carrier type | Carriage evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Tracked missile carrier | Security & Defence European describes the Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 2063 as a Bv 206-based carrier for the TOW weapon system. Sources: Mounted Missiles |
The TOW family is mounted on vehicle platforms such as the LAV-AT and M901A1 Improved TOW Vehicle for protected anti-armor fire.
| Launcher | Launcher type | Launch evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | TOW 2 launcher | Army budget documentation names the M220A4 TOW 2 Launcher as a TOW carrier and launch platform. Sources: Army Procurement: Missiles |
 | Anti-tank vehicle | Marine Corps reference data lists the LAV-AT with a twin TOW missile launcher and a 16-missile loadout. Sources: LAV-AT: AFV Database, Light Armored Vehicle-Anti-Tank (LAV-AT) |
 | Tracked missile carrier | Army budget documentation names the M901A1 Improved TOW Vehicle as a TOW carrier and launch platform. Sources: Army Procurement: Missiles |
 | Tracked infantry fighting vehicle | Army budget documentation says TOW missiles are launched from all infantry and cavalry variants of Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Sources: TOW Family of Missiles |
 | Light tactical vehicle | The Army article describes the M41 TOW Improved Target Acquisition System as a block upgrade to the M220 ground/HMMWV-mounted TOW 2 missile system. |
 | Wheeled infantry carrier vehicle | Army budget documentation lists the Stryker Anti-Tank Guided Missile vehicle as a TOW launch platform and says TOW missiles provide the Army's Stryker Brigade Combat Teams with heavy anti-armor capability. Sources: TOW Family of Missiles |
Army history places TOW service introduction in 1970 after the Hughes-developed weapon moved from development into fielding.
Sources: TOW
U.S. Army history records the first combat TOW firing in May 1972 from a UH-1B helicopter in South Vietnam.
Sources: TOW
Army history records TOW employment from Marine AH-1T helicopters and M901 Improved TOW Vehicles during Operation Desert Storm.
Sources: TOW
The Army reported improved TOW ITAS equipment going to forward operating bases in Afghanistan after extensive Iraq and Afghanistan combat use.
Sources: TOW System Upgrade Goes To Troops In Afghanistan
A U.S. Defense Department drawdown package committed 1,500 TOW missiles to Ukraine as part of an anti-armor assistance package.
Sources: $775 Million in Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine
