$20.1M for more TOW 2B Anti-Armor Missiles
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Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ received a $20.1 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for TOW 2B Aero Generation 2 Missiles. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 15, 2002 by the Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL (W31P4Q-04-C-0061).
The TOW 2B is an improved version of the original Tube-launched Optically-tracked Wire-guided missile. It features a dual-mode sensor and a new armament section equipped with two warheads substantially different from those used in other TOW versions. Earlier TOWs are direct-attack missiles with nose-mounted warheads that fire forward. The TOW 2B is designed to fly over the top of a tank and destroy it from above, where it is less heavily armored, by simultaneously detonating the missile’s two Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) warheads downward. The fly-over shoot-down flight profile permits the attack of targets in defilade or protected by berms or other fortifications. TOW 2B resembles the TOW 2A, with a six-inch diameter warhead section in front, but without the standoff probe. Range is over 3.5 km/ 2 miles.
