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TOW is Back

dangerboy

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Today is a good day for the Infantry Corps, for the first time in a long time members of the Infantry School fired TOW missiles as part of the reintroduction of the TOW weapons system.

This TOW system is not your old crusty WO's TOW system, to start off with it is now has the capability to fire wireless missiles (which is what were fired today, TOW 2A RF). So the acronym is now Tube launched Optically tracked Wireless (TOW). The sighting system has also changed we are now using the Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) which has a combined optical and thermal sight and a laser range finder which combined with the Far Target Locater allows us to get the grid of the target, vastly improving our SENSE capability.

Unfortunately the system is only dismounted at this time, but having a dismounted capability only is better than having no capability at all.  It can only get better from here. 
 
Yes, yes... But what about Sam Browne belts? That is what will be decisive in any future war.  :nod:

Just kidding.

Good on the Army on getting serious about warfare again.
 
dangerboy said:
Today is a good day for the Infantry Corps, for the first time in a long time members of the Infantry School fired TOW missiles as part of the reintroduction of the TOW weapons system.

This TOW system is not your old crusty WO's TOW system, to start off with it is now has the capability to fire wireless missiles (which is what were fired today, TOW 2A RF). So the acronym is now Tube launched Optically tracked Wireless (TOW). The sighting system has also changed we are now using the Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) which has a combined optical and thermal sight and a laser range finder which combined with the Far Target Locater allows us to get the grid of the target, vastly improving our SENSE capability.

Unfortunately the system is only dismounted at this time, but having a dismounted capability only is better than having no capability at all.  It can only get better from here.

Pictures or it didn't happen ;)
 

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I thought there were TOW's in some of the LAV's? No?
Please tell me that you were not forced to transport that out to the range in the back of a pickup truck?

The bags of salt are for what? Very curious...
 
Weight to stabilize the firing unit. Used to use sandbags.
 
whiskey601 said:
I thought there were TOW's in some of the LAV's? No?

There was, when the TOW was scrapped around 2012, they were removed from the LAVs and the hulls were used for other things (I don't know exactly where the hulls went).
 
dangerboy said:
There was, when the TOW was scrapped around 2012, they were removed from the LAVs and the hulls were used for other things (I don't know exactly where the hulls went).
The LAV III TUA became the rare LAV III RWS variant.  I suspect they will go (or have gone) through the LAV-UP program to become some more common variant of LAV 6.0.
 
Cool! 

Hopefully this is part of a broader program to re-introduce a robust anti-armor capability to the Infantry Corps generally.  Is there any new doctrine in process (re-introduction of Anti-Armor Platoons, etc.)?  If it is not appropriate for public consumption, DWAN links would also be appreciated.
 
Very good news.  Next up, mortars!  ;)
 
For those that are flowing the Army "light operations" concept / project this is a clear indicator and warning. The Light Operations folk keep talking about stuff... crazy stuff... one of those things is dismounted TOW coming back, who which the bulk of people have been calling BS.

Right behind TOW in all their conversations is pioneers (although they want to call it something "less polarizing").

No joke. If this indeed the tripwire then some really neat things are about to happen in the army.

MC
 
With TOW coming back and the push for the Sam Browne belts can we expect to be issued a batman?
 
How many times do we have to tell you Army guys ?

No aircraft carrier, no bat man, period.  [:D

 

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MCG said:
The LAV III TUA became the rare LAV III RWS variant.  I suspect they will go (or have gone) through the LAV-UP program to become some more common variant of LAV 6.0.

All of the LAV 6.0 are, in reality, almost completely new. That includes hulls and turrets. Very little from the original vehicles survives into the new ones.
 
A lot of those trucks don't squeak anymore.

They don't even move.
 
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