High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The BGM-71 TOW is an anti-tank missile. "BGM" is a weapon classification that stands for "Multiple Environment (B), Surface-Attack (G), Missile (M)". "TOW" is an acronym that stands for "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire command data link, guided missile". The TOW was first produced in 1970 and is one of the two most widely used anti-tank guided missiles by Western nations, along with the MILAN.