LaBarge to Supply Wiring Harnesses for US Army TOW Missile
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LaBarge in St. Louis, MO received a $7.3 million order from Raytheon Missile Systems to provide complex wiring harnesses for the US Army’s TOW (tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided) weapon system.
TOW is a long-range, anti-armor family of attack missiles designed to destroy a range of targets, from reinforced tanks to bunkers and urban fortifications.
The wireless TOW missiles receive commands from the gunner through a wireless data link, instead of the wire connection that the system used for over 30 years. Because the wireless system is built into the missile and the missile case, wireless TOW works with all existing launch platforms…
TOW remains the US Army and Marine Corps’ primary heavy anti-tank/ precision assault weapon deployed on HMMWV jeeps, the Army’s M1134 Stryker ATGM variant and M2/M3 Bradley IFVs; the Marines’ LAV-AT wheeled APC and SuperCobra attack helicopters; and numerous foreign vehicles.
TOW is in service with more than 40 international armed forces and is integrated on more than 15,000 ground, vehicle and helicopter platforms worldwide. In addition to the US military, it is used by NATO, Israel, Kuwait, and many other countries, as well as UN peacekeeping forces worldwide. TOW will be in service with the US military beyond 2025
See a video of the TOW missile busting a bunker.
Production on the LaBarge order is expected to continue through May 2011 at LaBarge’s Berryville, AR plant.
