Vietnam: first combat use of TOW anti-armor missile
On 24 April 1972, the U.S.
1st Combat Aerial TOW Team arrived in South Vietnam; the team's mission was to test the new anti-armor missile under combat conditions.
[9] The team consisted of three crews, technical representatives from
Bell Helicopter and
Hughes Aircraft, members of the
United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, and two UH-1B helicopters; each mounting the XM26 TOW weapons system, which had been taken from storage. After displacing to the
Central Highlands for aerial gunnery, the unit commenced daily searches for enemy armor.
[9] On 2 May 1972, U.S. Army UH-1 Huey helicopters firing TOWs destroyed North Vietnamese tanks near
An Loc. This was heralded as the first time a U.S. unit neutralized enemy armor using American-designed and built guided missiles (in this case against an American-made
M-41[10]). On 9 May, elements of the
North Vietnamese Army's 203rd Armored Regiment assaulted
Ben Het Camp held by
Army of the Republic of Vietnam Rangers . The Rangers destroyed the first three
PT-76 amphibious light tanks of the 203rd, thereby breaking up the attack.
[11][12] During the battle for the city of
Kontum, the TOW missile had proven to be a significant weapon in disrupting enemy tank attacks within the region. By the end of May, BGM-71 TOW missiles had accumulated 24 confirmed kills of both PT-76 light and
T-54 main battle tanks.
[11][12]
On 19 August, the South Vietnamese 5th Infantry Regiment abandoned
Firebase Ross in the
Que Son Valley, 30 miles southwest of Da Nang, to the North Vietnamese 711th Division. A dozen TOW missiles were left with abandoned equipment and fell into Communist hands.
Temporary success or failure is normal, how to win in long long time is the most important thing. For your people, cherish the precious peace time, and don't provoke us and don't expect we will eat what you want to impose us in SCS, or your loss will be far larger than what you have got.
