DEFENSE/Taiwan to test new generation TOW launch platforms in Pingtung drills

Taipei, Aug. 21 (CNA) Taiwan's military will hold the Tien Ma Exercises next week in Pingtung County, during which a new generation of TOW missile launch platforms will be tested as part of night-time shooting drills for the first time, a military source said.

The two-day exercises, scheduled to kick off on Aug. 26, will test tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) 2A missiles on M1167 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, which are TOW 2B carriers, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

In addition, because TOW 2B launchers are equipped with thermal imaging and tracking aim functions, they will be tested for night-time combat capabilities for the first time since they were commissioned into the armed forces, the source added.

Compared with older-generation TOW 2A munitions, TOW 2B missiles can carry out "top attacks," are wireless, and have a range of at least 4,500 meters, making them ideal for targeting bunkers, armored vehicles and landing craft.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research under the Ministry of National Defense, said the primary goal of test-firing TOW 2A missiles from TOW 2B launch platforms is to test their compatibility.

As TOW 2A missiles were developed earlier, doing so will also help to clear some of the missiles that are nearing their decommissioning date, Su explained.

Regarding the planned night-time live-fire drills, Su added it will help the armed forces better respond to Chinese ambushes, given that the People's Liberation Army could launch strikes at any time of day.

China has ramped up military pressure against Taiwan in recent years.

It has frequently sent its aircraft across the median line of the Taiwan Strait since 2022 and used other forms of military intimidation against Taiwan, including staging a large-scale military exercise around the country on May 23 titled Joint Sword 2024A, just days after the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).