https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40111/the-armys-plan-to-finally-replace-the-tank-busting-tow-missile

The U.S. Army wants a new anti-tank guided missile that is faster than and can hit targets at least twice as far away as the latest, extended-range versions of the BGM-71 TOW family. At the same time, the service wants the new weapon, which would have a maximum range of at least six miles, to be similarly sized to existing BGM-71s so that it can work with existing vehicle-mounted and infantry launchers.

Combat Capabilities Branch head Andrews made it clear that what the service wants now is something that has the same form factor as the BGM-71-series. "We have thousands of launchers out there that we just don't want to have to replace," he said. Some of those launchers are built into vehicles, such as the Bradley family and ATGM Vehicle variant of the Stryker, and replacing them would require even more substantial changes, too. This could also make it attractive to the Marine Corps, as well as foreign TOW operators, many of which also have specialized vehicle-mounted launchers.

It's also worth pointing out that the latest versions of the TOW launcher have powerful electro-optical and infrared optics and offer valuable secondary surveillance and battlefield situational awareness capabilities. Even if the new missile has a fire-and-forget mode, the Army might not be eager to give up these core components of the existing targeting system.

As it stands now, the Army's goal is to at least begin replacing the venerable TOW with this much more capable future missile sometime between 2028 and 2032, at which time BGM-71-series will have been in service for around six decades.

1.미 육군은 더 빠르고 사거리가 기존 TOW 최신형의 최소 2배 이상인 신형 대전차 미사일을 원함 이 미사일은 6마일(약 9.65km) 이상의 최대 사정거리와 기존 TOW와 비슷한 크기를 가지면서도 차량과 지상 거치형으로 운용될 수 있어야 함

2.미군은 이미 수천개의 TOW 발사기를 가지고 있어 이를 모두 교체하려면 막대한 비용이 들어가기 때문에 새로운 대전차 미사일이 기존 TOW와 동일한 폼팩터를 가지기를 원하고 있음

3.TOW 최신형의 발사기에는 강력한 전자광학 및 적외선 조준경이 있기 때문에 새로운 미사일이 발사 후 망각이 가능하더라도 육군이 기존 체계의 핵심 구성요소를 포기하고 싶지 않을 수 있음

4.현재 미 육군의 목표는 적어도 2028년과 2032년 사이에 기존 TOW 시리즈를 새 미사일로 교체하는 것임