Re: MBT-70
The MGM-51 Shillelagh actually had a full six inch diameter warhead twenty years before the TOW 2 was fielded, and packed a 15 pound warhead, almost twice the weight of the five inch warhead of the original TOW. It was closer in size and penetration to the first generation HOT missile. Those who fired it say the range is actually greater than the listed 3,000 meters, since it was infrared command guided and had no wire. One point I'd like to make about that factoid: there are restrictions on firing wire guided ATGMs over standing water. We've seen that fascinating CNN footage of a British Striker (?) firing a Swingfire missile at the abandoned Iraqi tank during OIF...the missile flies over a shallow pond, and several yards short of the far bank where the target tank was parked, the missile suddenly dips toward the water, strikes the surface, ricochets off the sandy shore, and manages to hit the target. If the target was further back from the shore, the missile surely would have missed its mark, having gone ballistic until the motor shut down. The Shillelagh and other non-wire-guided missiles aren't hampered by such water obstacles.
Basileus
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