TOW Missile

The BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) is an American crew-portable, man-packable anti-tank guided missile system. It was developed by Hughes Aircraft Company for the U.S. Army beginning in the 1960s and entered service in 1970. The TOW has been continuously updated through multiple variants and remains one of the most widely used anti-armor guided missile systems in the world, having been exported to dozens of countries. Its appearance in this vault is primarily as the central weapons system in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages transactions of 1985.¹

Technical Description

The TOW is a tube-launched system: the missile is fired from an enclosing launch tube and the operator tracks the target optically, guiding the missile via commands transmitted along a thin wire that pays out from the missile in flight. The warhead is designed to defeat tank armor through shaped-charge penetration. Various warhead configurations address different armor types, including tandem-charge warheads for reactive armor. The system can be mounted on vehicles, helicopters, or used in crew-served ground configurations.¹

Iran-Contra Context

TOW missiles were the primary weapons transferred to Iran in the initial phases of the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages arrangement in 1985 and 1986. Iran's interest in TOW missiles was driven by its ongoing ground war against Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Iraqi armor posed a significant threat to Iranian forces, and Iran had difficulty obtaining Western anti-armor weapons through normal channels following the arms embargo imposed after the 1979 revolution. The TOW's effectiveness against Iraqi tanks made it a high-value procurement target for Iranian military planners.²

The arms transfer sequence was initiated by National Security Council aide Oliver North, CIA Director William J. Casey, and Israeli intermediaries in mid-1985. The structure exploited an interpretation of U.S. law that permitted third-country transfers of U.S.-made weapons without prior U.S. notification if the recipient state had previously purchased the weapons:

• August 20, 1985: Israel shipped 96 TOW missiles to Iran, drawn from Israeli Defense Forces stockpiles. This was the first substantive arms transfer in the Iran-Contra arrangement. Within days, one American hostage, Reverend Benjamin Weir, was released in Beirut.
• September 14, 1985: Israel shipped 408 additional TOW missiles to Iran. No hostage was released in immediate connection with this shipment.

The United States subsequently replenished Israel's TOW stockpile with American missiles. The transactions were carried out with knowledge of President Reagan and national security principals, though the legal authority for the transactions was disputed and the replenishment technically required Presidential Finding authorization.²

The Tower Commission Report (1987) and the joint congressional investigation report (1987) both documented the TOW transactions in detail. Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh's investigation established that the TOW transfers and subsequent HAWK missile transfers constituted the core of the Iran arms sales program.²

Subsequent Transfers and HAWK Missiles

The TOW transfers in August-September 1985 were followed by an attempt in November 1985 to ship HAWK surface-to-air missiles to Iran, which was a logistical failure and produced no hostage release. In January 1986, a Presidential Finding authorized direct CIA involvement in the arms sales. Further TOW shipments followed in February and May 1986 under the revised structure managed by Richard Secord and Albert Hakim's Enterprise. A total of approximately 2,000 TOW missiles were transferred to Iran in the course of the arrangement.²