Question...I thought the TOW missile could engage targets other than armor.

[panzersaurkrautwerfer]

SACLOS guidance type weapons are still valid on the battlefield.  That said they're just as much of a gamble as they've always been, and especially when engaging armor within the 4ish KM envelope (basically within the range of the tank's main gun).  It also obligates you to sit still during time you might rather be doing something else.  As an example, imagine you're a scout Bradley sitting on a screen line.  With a TOW, you can snipe at the enemy as the main body shows up, but then you need to stay in one spot for the 30ish seconds it takes the missile to hit the 3750 meter range.  With some sort of Javelin ER, or F&F TOW, you could dump the missiles* out, pop smoke and then haul to the rearward passage of lines point while the enemy is still working through the OODA loop involved with not being missiled.  

 

*I imagine it'd be possible to acquire more than one target, or at the least, acquire with both the gunner's GPS, then within seconds shift to a target the commader has on the CITV, so in that regard instead of one TOW per vehicle in a volley fire, having two in the air at a time, and tracking on their own would be something to write home about.  

[mikeCK]

Knowing the general bearing and putting accurate fire on target are different. In addition, I'm not the only guy on the battlefield. While your trying to spot my tow launcher, your NOT looking for other tanks and targets on the field. Your thinking in terms of a two man battle....1 tank v 1 tow. Hell,

Even in training its too confusing and fast paced to try and target the last believed bearing of an ATGM. Pop smoke, move and acquire a target

[MikeyD]

Take your iphone, find a topo map of your local area then drive yourself to a nice picturesque spot where you can see out to 3-4k. That's a LOT of horizon to have to eyeball for threats. Especially if in every shadow or behind every fence or tuft of grass you imagine a long range ATGM launcher lurking. The CM game doesn't really do TOW justice. TOW should be firing well beyond small arms range, even beyond 30mm range. In the game we're often fighting from one tree line to the next, not exactly a venue where TOW shines.

[John Kettler]

Codename Duchess and MikeyD,

 

TOW AERO is much faster than TOW 2B. In the time it takes for the latter to reach 3.75 km, 21 seconds, the former can get out to 4.5. What's missing from the TOW equation in CMBS is that there are two versions of the TOW now in production. TOW 2B AERO and TOW Bunker-Buster, the latter of which is intended to deal with such problems, as shown below. Don't know about you, but if I'm in the bunker, I may have to go to lunch--before it eats mine! That warhead will take apart a position in a strong building and not even blink. Hitting the wall it's behind is all it takes. Interestingly, the RF guided TOW models have only 65 m arming distances, as opposed to the 200 meters for the wired TOW models, hugely improving utility in MOUT and other close terrain.  Regarding the dramatic music, it's intended to excite prospective customers (and people who can influence them) so they'll buy.

 

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited March 13, 2015 by John Kettler

[dan/california]

My biggest point is very simple.  We have already invented the Javelin. It works, its amazing, increasing its range can't be that hard.  And if you convert, you have actually simplified your logistics situation.  Whats not to like?

[LukeFF]

This thread is too serious. It needs a joke about TOW gunners:

 

 

(NSFW stuff edited out)