Wire-guided missiles

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Wire-guided missiles are designed for AT protection. In these msls guidance commands given by the gnr are converted into electrical signals which are transmitted to the msl spoilers by two wires. The latest wire-guided msls of the US Army are TOW and Dragon.

The “basic” TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) missile was adopted in 1917. It s the US Army’s company and battalion level heavy antitank guided missile. This ATGM is intended for use against heavy armor. It is a portable system. TOW can be separated into parts and carried by two- or three- man teams and fired from ground emplacements or from armored, light armored, unarmored vehicles and from helicopters. After launch, the msl unreels in fight two hair-thin wires through which it receives steering signals. All a gunner has to do is to keep the crosshairs of the sight on tgt, and the msl is automatically guided to the tgt.

The “basic”TOW is effective at ranges of 65-3750 meters. The weight (in storage case) is 56.3lb. The weight of missile is 41.7 lb. The length of the msl is 45.8 in. The diameter of the warhead is 5 in. The muzzle velocity of the msl is 300 m/sec. Armor penetration is 500-600 mm.

In 1979 the program was begun to improve the capabilities of the TOW. In 1981 the “basic” was improved. The improved TOW (ITOW) had a five-inch warhead. It used a night sight. The weight became larger, i.e. 56.6 (in storage case), and 42lb (msl only). The armor penetration was increased up to 750 mm.

The second phase of improvements of the basic TOW system resulted in TOW 2. This1983 version has a heavier and more powerful 6-in warhead, and longer 21,2 in extendible nose probe to defeat reactive armor. TOW 2 uses a radio command link instead of the usual wire guidance. The weight of the msl is 47.4 lb. The lengths is 45,9 in.

The Dragon wire- guided msl is a shoulder-fired wpn. It is designed for destruction of armor and field fortifications. It weights about 31 lbs and consists of the round and the tracker. The round comes enclosed in a container that serves as a carrying case and recoilless lchr. The tracker contains a telescope, a sensor device and an electronics package. To fire the Dragon, a gunner simply looks through the telescopic sight and launches the msl. All he has to do is to keep his sight on the tgt until it is destroyed. After firing, the tracker is removed and the lchr is discarded. The tracker then can be attached quickly to the next rd and the gunner is ready to fire again.

Specifications: length – 744 m, diameter – 122 mm, weight (in storage case) – 10.5 kg, weight of the warhead – 2.44 kg, muzzle velocity – 11m/sec., range – 65-1,500 m, armor penetration – 430 mm.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-25