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From: newave!john@uunet.UU.NET (John A. Weeks III)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: TOW performance in Desert Shield
Message-ID: <1991Jan21.041741.5641@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 21 Jan 91 04:17:41 GMT
References: <1991Jan16.014205.10919@cbnews.att.com> <1991Jan18.004940.9538@cbnews.att.com>
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From: newave!john@uunet.UU.NET (John A. Weeks III)

>From: gronk!johnl@uunet.UU.NET (John Limpert)

> A TOW doesn't "acquire" a target, the operator is responsible for
> keeping the optical sight crosshairs on the target until impact.

> I occassionally played with the training simulator.  Without proper
> training and a light touch it is very easy to steer the missile
> into the ground.  And that is _without_ anyone shooting at you.

One of my co-workers was once a TOW trainer in the US Army.  He said
that the missile tends to do a small spiral around the aim point just
after launch as the missile attempts to stabalize itself.  First time
trainees tend to try to stear the missile much like a video game.  The
most common result was hitting the ground or losing control of the
missile (which tends to fly up and to the left).  My co-worker said
that their goal was to teach missile operators to keep aiming at the
target and let the missile hit your aim point.

-john-

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