Saudi Arabia is taking a major step to modernize its protection capabilities by planning to amass 507 TOW 2A missiles and 507 TOW 2B missiles. These missiles are famend for his or her precision focusing on and harmful energy. The package deal additionally contains numerous help applied sciences and providers, from testing tools and simulators to personnel coaching.
The principle goal of this buy is to strengthen the nation’s defensive infrastructure in opposition to each present and potential future threats. The whole price of the deal is estimated at $440 million, with RTX Company, primarily based in Tucson, Arizona, serving as the first contractor.
This sale underscores the USA’ intention to deepen its cooperation with key companions within the Gulf area. The transaction is not going to disrupt the navy stability within the space and doesn’t require further U.S. navy presence or specialists in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, this deal aligns with American targets of selling political stability and financial development within the Center East, and it doesn’t compromise U.S. protection readiness.
The TOW 2A and TOW 2B are multi-mission missile programs particularly designed to destroy enemy armored targets and fortified positions. The TOW 2A [BGM-71E-4B-RF] contains a highly effective high-explosive warhead that may penetrate thick armor. It’s launched from a tube and makes use of optical monitoring with a wi-fi radio frequency [RF] steerage system, minimizing the danger of jamming or sign interruption.
The TOW 2A’s steerage system is upgraded with superior sensors and electronics to enhance accuracy, making it notably efficient in opposition to fortified positions and bunkers. It may be deployed from a wide range of platforms, together with floor and airborne installations, enhancing its versatility on the battlefield.
The TOW 2B [BGM-71F-3-RF], then again, takes a special method to focus on destruction. This model is provided with a specialised twin warhead designed to strike targets from above, the purpose the place most autos have their weakest armor. It additionally employs a wi-fi RF channel for steerage, however provides sensors for vary estimation and goal acquisition, permitting for a exact hit on probably the most susceptible components of the goal. Superior infrared sensors and an progressive focusing on mechanism improve the missile’s effectiveness, even below antagonistic situations.
The first distinction between the TOW 2A and TOW 2B lies of their goal engagement strategies. The TOW 2A makes a speciality of frontal assaults with direct hits, making it extraordinarily efficient in opposition to bunkers and bolstered positions. In the meantime, the TOW 2B’s design for top-down assaults provides it an edge when confronting tanks and armored autos, the place attacking the armor’s weakest factors is essential. This makes the TOW 2B notably advantageous in open-field battles in opposition to cellular targets, whereas the TOW 2A stays the popular alternative for city fight and fortified defenses.
Saudi Arabia possesses a wide range of platforms and weapons programs that enable for the efficient integration and utilization of TOW 2A and TOW 2B missiles. One of many main land-based programs is the American-made M2 Bradley armored combating automobile, a central element of the Kingdom’s floor forces. Outfitted with a 25mm cannon and a TOW missile launcher, the M2 Bradley is a well-liked instrument for partaking closely armored targets.
Saudi forces additionally function American Humvees [HMMWV] outfitted with mounted TOW programs, making them perfect for fast mobility in advanced terrains and appropriate for asymmetrical warfare. The Kingdom’s arsenal contains a number of French armored autos, such because the AMX-10RC—a light-weight wheeled fight automobile able to integrating TOW programs, making it efficient in operations that demand excessive pace and maneuverability.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia makes use of American-made M113 armored autos, which have been tailored to hold TOW missile launchers, enhancing their potential to have interaction armored targets from lengthy distances.
Within the air, Saudi Arabia’s AH-64 Apache helicopters—additionally American-made—are armed with TOW missiles, enabling them to carry out shut air help missions and eradicate enemy armored formations. TOW programs are additionally put in on lighter multipurpose helicopters just like the Bell 406CS, used for reconnaissance and fast response. This big selection of platforms provides Saudi Arabia the flexibility to completely harness the potential of the TOW 2A and TOW 2B missiles, permitting for his or her deployment in numerous eventualities and operations.
Specialists within the discipline have highlighted the significance of TOW programs in fashionable warfare. Lieutenant Common John M. Murray, commander of the U.S. Military Futures Command, acknowledged again in 2019, “The TOW missile system continues to show itself as a flexible and dependable instrument on the battlefield. Its adaptability and energy make it a key asset for any navy partaking in each standard and unconventional warfare.”
Colonel Scott McIntosh, a senior advisor for the U.S. Military’s Program Govt Workplace Missiles and House, emphasised the TOW 2B’s strategic edge in a 2021 interview: “The flexibility to strike armored targets from above is essential in right now’s fight eventualities. It gives a tactical benefit, permitting forces to have interaction the enemy successfully with out exposing themselves to direct hearth.”
Main Common David G. Bassett, head of the U.S. Military’s Acquisition Corps, additionally commented on the sturdiness of the TOW 2A system in city settings throughout a 2020 convention: “In dense and fortified environments, the TOW 2A stays unmatched. Its precision and energy are essential for missions requiring pinpoint accuracy, particularly in advanced city terrain.”
These statements underscore the worth of TOW missile programs as Saudi Arabia appears to be like to bolster its protection capabilities with this important acquisition.
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