US Army issues $129.9m contract for Raytheon’s TOW weapon systems

The US Army has awarded a $129.9m agreement to Raytheon for continued manufacturing of tube-launched, optically tracked, wireless-guided TOW missiles.

The current award is a modification to the company’s $320m-valued existing production contract.

Raytheon’s TOW weapon system includes multi-mission missiles such as TOW 2A, TOW 2B Aero, and TOW Bunker Buster.

The TOW missile is a long-range precision, heavy anti-tank, assault weapons system that can be deployed to defeat all known armour systems in the world.

Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice-president Kim Ernzen said: “TOW’s precision and firepower give US and allied ground troops a significant advantage on the battlefield.

“Worldwide demand for TOW continues to be strong, and we expect to produce and deliver it for many years to come.”

The anti-armour, anti-fortification weapon system provides ground forces with an increased advantage against armoured and wheeled systems, irrespective of the environment or conditions.

TOW missiles have been developed for use by the US Army and the US Marine Corps (USMC), in addition to all international customers.

The missile can be fitted on US Army vehicles such as the Stryker, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, ITAS HMMWV, and light-armoured anti-tank platforms.

To date, Raytheon has supplied more than 690,000 TOW missiles to the US Army, the USMC, and allied militaries.

TOW weapon systems are expected to be in-service with the US military until 2050.