The TOW missile system has been in service since 1970. The TOW 2 system includes: TOW 2 (BGM-71D), with over 80,000 missiles delivered, no longer in production; TOW 2A (BGM-71E), which entered production in 1987 with over 118,000 missiles delivered; and TOW 2B (BGM-71F), which entered production in 1991 with over 40,000 missiles delivered. TOW 2B is designed to complement rather than replace TOW 2A and both missiles are operational with the US Army.

The missiles can be fired from the ground using a tripod-mounted launch tube or installed on vehicles. The TOW missile system can be fitted as a single-tube pedestal mount on military vehicles or as 2-tube or 4-tube under-armour systems on vehicles such as the Improved TOW Vehicle M901, Desert Warrior, Piranha, US Marine Corps LAV, Dardo Hitfist and Bradley M2/M3.

Airborne TOW is in service in more than 13 countries. Over 2,100 units have been delivered and helicopters fitted with the TOW missile include the GKN Westland Lynx, Agusta A129, Bell Textron 206L, UH-1 Huey, Hughes 500MD helicopter, MBB Bo 105 and Bell Textron AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter.

The missile has command to line-of-sight guidance. The weapons operator uses a telescopic sight to view a point on the target and then fires the missile. The missile has a two-stage Alliant Techsystems solid propellant rocket motor. The operator continues to view and track the target through the sight. Guidance signals from the guidance computer are transmitted along two wires, which spool from the back of the missile to the control system on the missile. The Chandler Evans CACS-2 control system uses differential piston type actuators.

The missile is fitted with a high intensity thermal beacon, which provides a long-wave infrared tracking source and a xenon beacon for short-wave tracking. This dual-tracking system provides increased resistance to electro-optical and infrared countermeasures.

For penetration of tanks protected with explosive reactive armour (ERA), TOW 2A is equipped with a tandem warhead. A small disrupter charge detonates the reactive armour and allows the main shaped charge to penetrate the main armour.

The most recent production version, TOW 2B, operates in a "flyover shoot down" top attack mode, unlike other versions which are direct attack. It features a dual-mode target sensor designed by Thomson-Thorn Missile Electronics, which includes laser profilometer and magnetic sensor, and new warhead section, produced by Aerojet. It resembles the TOW 2A but without the extendible probe, and is armed with two explosively formed tantalum penetrator (EFP) warheads. The EFP warheads detonate simultaneously, one pointing downwards, the other slightly offset to give an increased hit probability. The warhead material is designed to generate pyrophoric effects within the damaged target.

Raytheon Company has been awarded a US Army full rate production contract for the TOW Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) for the HMMWV launcher and the ground mounted TOW. ITAS uses a thermal imager based on a Standard Advanced Dewar Assembly (SADA II) focal plane array, eyesafe laser rangefinder, and a gunner-aided target tracker. ITAS improves the target recognition range performance and the hit probability.

In September 2000, the US Army awarded an EMD (engineering & manufacturing development) contract for a wireless TOW Fire & Forget missile to Raytheon Systems Company. TOW-FF uses an advanced imaging infrared staring focal plane array seeker and also retains a man-in-the-loop command guidance mode. The missile retains the TOW 2B airframe and is designed to replace the TOW 2A. The EMD phase requires 50 missiles to be built and tested and will conclude in 2004.

An elevated TOW system (ETS) has been developed by an international consortium consisting of Raytheon, GM Delco, Indra of Spain, and E.Falck Schmidt of Denmark. The system, based on a Danish M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier, uses an elevating mast fitted with a pod containing a lightweight launcher and four TOW launch tubes. In August 1999, the ETS successfully completed demonstration firing tests at the Danish Army Training Centre in Denmark.