Originally Posted By Zhukov:

I was about to throw a fit about Lavrov too, but then I realized that he's merely sending a message threatening us. He's doing what Putin's lap dog is supposed to be doing, nothing more.

Originally Posted By CZ75_9MM:
Why would they announce this?

Originally Posted By kncook:


Unfortunately there are plenty of western useful idiots that say “why are we poking the bear!?!?!”.

You have to point out how stupid/hypocritical they are.

Heck we have “conservatives” here that see no difference between the US and Russia right now.

Originally Posted By Undaunted:


Those dudes don't look dug in at all.

Originally Posted By AnalogKid:

I'm kinda SoA on this one.

The episode "Fun Town".

Olga should get his genitals mailed to her in a bag.

Originally Posted By R0N:

The 24-second life span of the BGM-71 TOW missile begins 1.54 seconds before the ignition as the trigger is pulled.  At this point, several things happen. (1) Three batteries are activated that provide power to the electronics, the Xenon or thermal beacon and the actuator subsystem. (2) The attitude control gyro spins up to 42,000 rpm. (3) Electronic signals are balanced between the Missile Command Amplifier and the missile.  Finally, the engine ignites!

         The tube clearance engine, located in the back of the TOW produces 15,000 lbs. of thrust for 0.35 to 0.5 seconds and burns out before it leaves the tube.  At the moment the front wings finish unfolding as they spring out after leaving the tube they close an electric circuit that causes the "flight" motor to ignite.  This motor has two exhaust nozzles, one on each side of the rocket about halfway up the body in order to avoid the center of gravity (Cg) changing during flight.  The flight motor ignites about seven meters from the launcher.  Then, when the missile has reached between 35-70 meters from the launcher, the warhead is armed by acceleration G forces from the "flight" motor.

         Upon capture, the TOW missile becomes a closed-loop system. The Xenon beacon and thermal beacon ( TOW 2,  TOW2A ) are installed in the rear of the missiles and are detected by the Xenon detector or thermal tracker in the TSU. Two-wire dispensers are mounted on the rear of the missile at 90 and 270-degree positions. These dispensers contain 3,750 meters of single strand wire. Control surface flippers respond to signals from this wire command link. Helium powers the control actuators. The attitude gyro, which limits yaw and roll, is driven by nitrogen.
The rest of the flight profile:

T + 1.35 sec.(~230 meters) - The IR sensors in the TSU switches from the wide field of view (FOV) (+ 6 degrees) to medium FOV (+ 1.5 degrees).

T + 1.6sec.(~350 meters) - The flight motor burns out. Missile velocity is approximately 1,080 ft / sec. (639 knots or 735 mph).


T + 1.85 sec. - Automatic wire-cut occurs if no IR source.


T + 2.0 sec.(500 meters) - Minimum effective range.


T + 2.34 sec.(~520 meters) - TSU IR sensors medium FOV (+1.5 degrees) end; narrow FOV (+0.25 degrees) begins. Narrow FOV IR sensor is contained in 13 power lens.


T + 3.9 sec.(1,000 meters) - Missile velocity is approximately 840 ft / sec (497 kts or 571.4 mph.


T + 4.325 sec. - Control surfaces (flippers move at 12.5 cps instead of 25 cps to conserve helium gas in the high-pressure bottle.


T + 8.6 sec.(2000 meters) - Missile velocity is approximately 620 ft / second (367 kts or 422 mph).


T + 14.8 sec.(3000 meters) - Missile velocity is approximately 450 ft / second (266 kts or 306 mph).


T + 20.5 sec.(3750 Meters) - Missile velocity is approximately 375 ft/second (222 kts or 255 mph). The missile is at the maximum range of the wire.


T + 23.04 sec. -  An automatic wire-cut occurs if no wire-cut signal has been previously received.


T + 23.12 sec. -  Trigger reset for the next missile.