Iranian TOW Missile Knockoffs Spread to War Zones

[AmirPatriot]

What is the function of wire ?

So the soldier can guide the missile. They send the guidance commands through the wire.

 

[50cent]




The CIA program to supply Arab rebels in Syria has made TOW anti-tank guided missiles a nearly ubiquitous sight in media coming from the conflict. But the United States might not be the only country waging a covert war with TOW (or TOW-like) missiles in the Middle East.
Iranian reverse-engineered TOW anti-tank guided missiles, dubbed “Toophan,” have been been sighted headed toward Yemen with additional suspected appearances in Iraq and Syria — all in the hands of Tehran’s allies and proxy groups.

Iran’s production of reverse-engineered TOW missiles is no great secret. In official news outlets, documentaries and on Iran’s official arms export website, the Islamic Republic has touted its production of a series of different Toophan missiles derived from TOW variants.

It has produced at least a handful of different Toophan models, including the Toophan 1 through 3. According to Armament Research Services, the three systems appear to copy the TOW BGM-71A, BGM-71C and BGM-71F missiles. Iran makes two other variants, dubbed the Toophan-5 and Qaem.
In addition to the basic infantry launch platform, Iran has equipped some of its vehicles to fire the missiles. The basic Safir 4x4 tactical vehicle often appears in military parades equipped with a Toophan launcher.
Iran’s unhelpfully-named Toufan-2 helicopter, based on the Bell Sea Cobra, also appears able to fire Toophan anti-tank missiles.

Until recently, however, Toophans tended to appear only in Iran at official rollouts and in news articles, with some brief reported use by Hezbollah in the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group.
Now, however, sightings of the missiles — both claimed and confirmed — are popping up in conflicts across the Middle East.
The most detailed sighting of a Toophan missiles in the wild thus far comes from the seizure of a small dhow off the coast of Oman. In September 2015, U.S. and Australian warships stopped and searched a dhow, laden with anti-tank missiles allegedly sent from Iran for use by Houthi fighters in Yemen.

The U.S. offered an up-close look at the seized weapons to the United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen, which the Security Council established to provide information on individuals who threaten the “peace, security or stability of Yemen.”

The panel’s January reportincluded photographs of Toophan equipment seized from the dhow. The pictures show the launcher’s daysight tracker and power supply stamped with markings from Iran Electronics Industries. The daysight markings match those seen in a photograph of a Toophan originally posted to an Iranian military forum.
IEI produces military equipment for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. Its product lines include, “electro-optics and lasers, communication equipment, telecommunication security equipment, electronic warfare equipment, new and refurbished radar tubes, and missile launchers,” according to a 2008 Treasury Department sanctions designation.
The daysight trackers have green tape with Persian script warning users not to remove it. The Toophans were also shipped with Persian language instructions for operating the missile guidance sets.

One of the earliest alleged sightings of a Toophan in combat took place during the battle for Tikrit in March of 2015. The Al Sumaria satellite news channelpublished a photograph of a Badr Organization fighter on the frontlines next to what resembles a Toophan launcher.
Closer inspection of the photograph reveals a handful of recognition featureswhich line up with what’s known about the Toophan.

In the photo, the system has the customary green tape and three parallel yellow bands on the launcher seen in Iranian media photographs of Toophans. A red band around the missile itself, in contrast to the TOW’s usual yellow, further distinguishes the weapon from its American counterpart.
Since the fight for Tikrit, a number of other videos and images purporting to show Toophans in Syria and Iraq have appeared, often in the hands of Iranian-backed Shia militias or Assad regime forces. One prominent pro-Assad Twitter account claims that the first Toophan spotted in Syria appeared in the hands of a Shia militiaman fighting on behalf of the Assad regime in October 2015.

Subsequent photos show alleged instances of the Iranian knockoff missiles in the hands of both Shia militiamen and a Syrian Arab Army soldier.

The missile may have made another appearance in Iraq. In March, Iraq’s Al Ahad TV Channel 2 broadcast footage of the Iranian-backed Asa’ib Ahl Al Haq militia using a purported Toophan to blow up an Islamic State suicide vehicle bomb near Samarra.
The sightings in Iraq and Syria, however, have an important caveat. The photographs purporting to show Toophans in the two countries share some of the recognition features with those seen in Iran. Nonetheless, without the production markings or serial numbers, the sightings remain unconfirmed.
Like a number of Iranian weapons, the TOW knockoffs trace their origins to happier days in the U.S.-Iran relationship.

https://warisboring.com/iranian-tow-missile-knockoffs-spread-to-war-zones-45b9c0ea44e2#.nk5yj31n2

Kornet vs tow which one will win in this war

 

[Blackmoon]

Kornet vs tow which one will win in this war

Both has there own unique and distinctive aspects but i think kornet is more advanced.

 

[Hack-Hook]

Kornet vs tow which one will win in this war

Tow have less penetrating capabilities, but its cheaper to produce so if your target is not a modern tank with advanced armor its logical to use it.

 

[Arminkh]

Is it old technology or its still usable or any advantage of this technology in modern warfare ?

Some like Russian Cornet also have laser beam riding feature where there is an optical sensor on the missile looking back. The shooter keeps a steady laser beam on the target and the missile follows or rides the beam using the sensor. It has longer range compared to the wired one but as @AmirPatriot mentioned is more expensive.

Iran makes that type too. It is called Dehlavieh:

 

[yavar]