The M40 Recoilless Rifle is an American 105mm recoilless rifle from the post-war period. The weapon entered service with the US Army in the mid-1950s. The gun's weight was approximately 210 kilograms, and its overall length was 3.4 meters. The effective range of this weapon was about 1350 meters, with a maximum range of about 6850 meters. The initial velocity of the missile fired from the M40 was about 500-510 m / s. The M40 Recoilless Rifle gun was developed as a new US infantry light anti-tank weapon to replace the highly unsuccessful M27 gun. Interestingly, however, the M40 gun was in fact a very far-reaching modernization of the M27. Due to the weight of the weapon (over 200 kilograms), the M40 gun was often mounted on light off-road vehicles such as the M38A1, M151 MUTT and finally the HMMMWV. It was also the primary armament of the M50 Ontos tank destroyer. It is worth adding that the M40 was used in combat during the Vietnam War in 1964 / 1965-1975. However, with the development of the Soviet armor, it was replaced in line by the BGM-71 TOW ATGM, starting in the 1970s.
BGM-71 TOW is a modern American anti-tank guided missile. The first prototypes of the weapon were created in 1963, and the weapon entered service in 1970 and - in subsequent versions - still remains in it. The length of the projectile in the basic version is 1.17 meters with a diameter of 152 millimeters. The speed of the projectile is 300 m / s, and the effective shot range - in version A - is up to 3,000 meters. The weight of the j warhead is 3.9 kilograms.
The BGM-71 TOW was developed to replace the French SS.10 and ENTAC anti-tank guided missiles used by the US Army. Hughes Aircraft (now part of the Raytheon concern) was responsible for the design of the new weapon and its production. Finally, the new missile replaces the ENTAC missiles and the 106 mm M40 recoilless rifles in the line. In the course of serial production, many variants of this weapon were created, which systematically increased its combat capabilities, including, for example: BGM-71 B (the version entered production in 1976 and had an extended range of effective shot), BGM-71 C ( version with a changed cumulative warhead) or BGM-71 E TOW 2A (version of the missile put into service in 1987 and capable of penetrating the reactive armor of tanks). BGM-71 TOW missiles were used in many armed conflicts, including: in the final phase of the Vietnam War (1964 / 1965-1975), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) or during the First Gulf War (1990-1991) . At present, the BGM-71 TOW is one of the most widespread anti-tank guided missiles in the world.
