M274 Mechanical Mule and TOW weapon system | A practical look

Welcome to our latest exploration into the world of military vehicles, where we take a closer look at the unassuming yet indispensable M274 Mechanical Mule, equipped with the TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided,) missile system. During the Vietnam War, this unpretentious vehicle became a staple of logistical operations, providing essential support in a variety of terrain and operational environments.
We’ll look into the practical details of how to drive and service the M274, along with an explanation of how to operate the TOW missile system attached to it.
Subscribe now for more in-depth explorations of military history!

[@happy_dad4211]

Had a Mule once with the non-directional tires. Not much of a muddier with those tires. Mine had the floor mount and storage box for a recoilless rocket. Great running vehicle. Wish I still had it.

[@chrismair8161]

Why no Mudder Tires Bud? Come on!?

[@echohunter4199]

I see you have one of “Marty’s Mules” electric start kits installed, I bought one for mine when I lived in Eureka, CA in the mid 90’s. Looks like you need to adjust the shift linkage shafts a bit so it’ll engage the full range of gears. I’ve restored 2 of these but never the 4 wheel steer version, those are pretty rare. Nice that you have a TOW system, finding the components in the civilian world is NOT easy by any means and I’m a retired 11H so I can see what’s missing. I was assigned to D co. 2/502 INF, 101st ABN from 1986-93 and we had M151A2’s until April of 1987 but, we also had M-274’s assigned but they were pulled in the early 80’s so my buddies used to tell me about them and how cool they were. As most 11H’s will agree with, recovering from field training was a huge pain in the arse and vehicles took forever to wash perfectly clean but the Mule’s were easy. I really enjoyed my job as a Tank destroyer/Infantryman and served 26 years until I retired in 2009. Fun fact; the TOW missile (From I-TOW through todays modern BGM-71 series missiles) have 4,000 meters of wire on the end but they don’t want gunners to know that since range estimation is often farther than actual range so that’s why they did that. The TOW 2 system was a game changer, it had the ability to defeat enemy IR dazzlers or IR flares that would be able to disrupt our IR trackers in the daysight so, they incorporated a small computer that connected the thermal Night Vision Sight (AN/TAS-4C) to the day sight tracker and MGS so if the thermal beacon on the back of the missile was lost, the computer would search for the added thermal beacon on the tail of the missile and re-acquire the missile track. The wild part is how the sight and MGS communicated. When the missile flies downrange it has a distinct movement image the gunner sees as its in flight and a profile of the weird movements is stored in the computer so if the missile is lost, within a fraction of a second the MGS queries the night vision sight as to where the missile is often located at a specific time in flight and chooses the closest beacon and verifies the connection and continues the track to the target, all of which is barely noticed by the gunner. The TOW missile can penetrate up to 52” of homogeneous steel (not armor treated) which is mind blowing. Obviously it’ll have a harder time with armor treated steel. The wire was the most difficult part of the TOW system to develop back in the day, it has a tensile strength of around 1,000 pounds (not sure how they came up with that but oh well) and it has to be handled carefully when we try to clean up the range, it’s known to cut our hands due to its small size, it’ll cut you open with just a couple pounds of pressure. So that’s why we wear thick gloves and carefully wind up the wire. Sometimes when the bridge clamp is opened the wire cutting function in the launch container doesn’t work and you’re stuck with the wires still connected and then we have to cut them manually. In 1984 while I was in Aschaffenburg, Germany with E co. 1/7 INF we tested firing 4 TOW2 missiles at the same time and crossing all 4 guidance wires to see if there would be any issues and they all hit their targets dead on. The TOW will hit a target within a 16” radius of where the crosshairs are aimed. Each tank/armored vehicle has its weak spots we aim for and Soviet type tanks all have weak turret rings so aiming there is a guaranteed kill but aiming at ammo storage areas is our second choice. Soviet tanks are much smaller compared to NATO tanks so usually all you’ll see is the turret unless there’s hundreds of tanks rolling towards you which is how the soviet tactics worked. I have many other tidbits of unique features of the TOW but I’ll hold for now. I tip my hat to fellow TOW bunnies out there and thanks for making a nice video about our craft, most have no idea how we function.

[@lowandslow3939]

I went through AIT as 11H in early 1982. We were training with TOW 1’s or 2’s. Funny thing was that one of my fellow 11H’s mother, worked at the manufacturer of the missiles and she told him that they were currently developing the TOW4! I know, loose lips, but it was cool to know.

[@echohunter4199]

@@lowandslow3939 That’s pretty interesting! Wasn’t it fun being on the TOW tracking range at Benning tracking the M-151 slowly driving across the range with the IR lamp/source mounted on the pintle mount while the instructor kept yelling; “point, point, point, point, point…” lol. In 89 I went to TOW master gunner school and that was a great opportunity, I got to learn little details about the M-220 like how there’s actually 4,000 meters of wire on the missile but they don’t tell the men this since range estimation is often farther than actual.

[@lowandslow3939]

@@echohunter4199 Oh man, I had a hard time with the night sight tracker. That big set of crosshairs on the target vehicle itself, a sign, really, was hard to keep in my crosshairs. They would stop and start and we had to stay on target. Not an easy task, but I managed.

[@echohunter4199]

@@lowandslow3939 yeah, I remember that fun, using that huge sight collimator to align the daysight tracker to the thermal sight was a bitch and it would often lose its alignment half way through the process, lol. Then remember that heavy as hell missile simulator for reloading drills and for MILES simulators? If you dropped it something on you would definitely feel that one the next day. Often we’d just cheat and use an ELC (expended launch container). We used to have fun with the simulator by stuffing an empty soda can behind the launch simulator (basically an M-80 firecracker from hell) and shoot them at other vehicles in the platoon for shits and giggles (when time permitted such festivities). Being in a Light Infantry unit was hard work as a TOW bunny, constant camo paint and daily replacement of local foliage to strap onto the vehicles so it looked like a rolling bush, the M-151’s were damn hard to spot when we’ll camouflaged like that, I had one officer staring straight at me as he called me on the radio 50 meters away at an intersection! The HMMWV’s were a different beast altogether, not so easy to hide in 3 foot tall bush/vegetation but we eventually adapted. Exposing the soft skinned HMMWV’s to enemy fire was something we never wanted so we’d use terrain to keep us below their line of sight. The HMMWV could drive on horrible terrain so we could get in creek beds or ravines pretty easily but soft bogs and deep mud wasn’t so easy, once the bottom of the HMMWV body stuck to the mud, it hydrolocked with a vacuum like seal that was near impossible to break, I know from experience when my new driver didn’t do what I said when we came up to a small bog and I told him to punch it and he just looked at me, I repeated it and reached over and pushed his knee down but it was too late. An M-88 couldn’t pull us out, a Chinook couldn’t lift us out and finally we used another HMMWV with a winch and gradually pulled us out…..after 3 days.

[@lowandslow3939]

@@echohunter4199 At least you got to use real vehicles. We used the crappy Mutt Jeep. They had little ground clearance soft tops and obviously not one bit of armor.

[@ballagh]

Used to know a guy who referred to the oxy torch as the red wrench. If the nut won’t move there’s always the red wrench! Great video, that thing looks like a blast.

[@owensthilaire8189]

Gas axe we called it.

[@TannyWanny]

@@owensthilaire8189 love it

[@gardnert1]

These need to be re-made because the utility of this on the modern battlefield is insane.

[@owensthilaire8189]

Bigger is not really better in a war zone. That thing is a much smaller target than a Hummer.

[@eiennofantasy]

I was thinking the same thing when i looked at the peer to peer war in Ukraine and watching how they have small squads of hunter killer teams finding tanks and what not

[@sandynewman5533]

As an 11HE9, I am intimately familiar with the TOW 2 missile system in both the ground mount and the vehicle mounted system. I will add that even when we got the TOW 2, the two sights has to be collimated using a collimater. With the day sight being the "brains" between the two, the collimater was adjusted to the day sight, and the night sight was adjusted to the collimater. The Missile Guidance System (MGS) was used to bore sight the day sight tracker to insure the day sight and the MGS were synced for target acquisition and engagement.

[@Atvsrawsome]

That seems very complicated. Your telling me you couldn't take the little caps off the scope and adjust it with a quarter? (It's a joke) Hahaha

[@sandynewman5533]

@@Atvsrawsome It took 5 minutes or less. As I stated above, the MGS was used to bore sight the day sight tracker, and when attaching the night sight, it has to be aligned to the day sight. There is no form of indexing the fittings, so a way to get that alignment has to be addressed.

[@MrDportjoe]

Seeing this version made this 1977-1981 37E happy. I am so vintage I got out just as the the night sight was being mentioned in the press. The 274 is fer sure an odd bird born out of Airborne idea. Never wanted to test the medivac vesriosn.

[@adamchurvis1]

My Drill Instructor during my graduation year at Marine Military Academy was Master Gunnery Sergeant Arthur Cohan, who worked on the design and engineering of the TOW and Dragon missiles. These were the original point-contact TOW missiles rather than the modern overhead-detonating TOW missiles that capitalize on the relative weakness of the Commander's Cupola.

[@Ghatbkk]

In the late 70s/early 80s, Infantry Battalions in the 101st Airborne had these in their Delta Companies.

[@tomhenry897]

80 to 81 each Plt had one We rarely used ours but the mortars always used theirs except when deployed

[@StabbinJoeScarborough]

D co 2 -187 IN 101st ABN 96-98

[@Frankestein01nl]

DAF had a design ready for the "Pony" as they called it, but due to the contract not permitting them being built in the Netherlands(yep, economics), they pulled out. With the pony, you could take off the steeringwheel, put it on the back and operate a handthrottle from behind. Cool to see the Mule has the forward collapsing steeringwheel with the same idea. Thanks for the video! Awsome verhicle!

[@TannyWanny]

amazing utilty. people really knew what worked back then.

[@M65V19]

What a little cool vehicle!

[@SFish-wr4kh]

Was not expecting the goofy shenanigans, very entertaining and informative!

[@steadmanuhlich6734]

Dusty did an outstanding job of describing the Mule and Tow and showing how it works. Well done! I hope Dusty will do further/future presentations about the military vehicles. He is a good spokesperson. (Subscribed)

[@guandubridgety698]

Amazing mules, they never get old, you guys preserve the tasty slice of military history, outstanding!

[@GarthFlint-nc2vj]

I fired a 106 recoiless rifle off these things on the Marines in 1974. The 106 made it extremely top heavy. Had to be real careful on cross country movement. We were trained to shoot and scoot. No suspension made for a really rough ride. Bounced all over. They did not like to start on hot days.

[@N238E]

The day sight is an impressive piece of equipment. I was using one of these while training in Malamute dropzone in JBER Alaska. I just happened to traverse the day sight onto one of the mountain sides, and I looked straight into some rich person's house. When I glanced at the range, it said 6000 something meters.

[@chrissmith7669]

I absolutely love the mules and that TOW equipped one has got to be about the smallest portable tank killer

[@ptonpc]

Great video and interesting demo. Thanks :)

[@WildBillCox13]

Liked and shared.

[@treadheadpete4770]

Cool vehicle!

[@davidk7324]

Great stuff guys, keep 'em coming.

[@wretchedmess]

Great video, thanks for posting.

[@rebell813]

Great presentation guys! thanks for sharing this info

[@johnrossetti5208]

Thank you for the video. This brought back a lot of memories. I was a 27E back in the late 1900s🤣. I was only given an intro on the Mule and never saw one. But the TOW and the TOW 2 system is what I received all of my training on.

[@corneliusx1811]

So simple and functional.

[@lowandslow3939]

Great video! I went through AIT as an 11H in early 1982. We were training with TOW 1’s or 2’s. Funny thing was that one of my fellow 11H’s mother, worked at the manufacturer of the missiles and she told him that they were currently developing the TOW4! I know, loose lips, but it still was cool to know.

[@Convoycrazy]

Great vid! 👍🏼 4 wheel steer TOW mule .. what a gem! I've always wanted a mule but .. can't afford one. Might build a replica one of these days. Keep on jeepin on! 🇺🇸

[@audiencesmember]

Well put video!

[@Sawyersmaple]

Neat little work horse. Thanks for the video.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video...👍

[@jeffturnbull9661]

Great information, fun video

[@yaronk1069]

Nice one!!!

[@pavelkoudelka7988]

Parádní stroj, tak trochu můj sen :)

[@biddinge8898]

This thing is insanely cool

[@JohnDoe-xj6mf]

Very well taught class

[@kevinmurphy3464]

The ones I saw usually carried a recoilless rifle.

[@kawaiiarchive357]

I hope they add this to War Thunder

[@henryo7778]

Mini tank killer!! THX

[@billlexington5788]

Brings back a lot of memories. I remember in 2012, I had an MGS with serial number 003 in my armory 😂

[@AgitatedA]

Looks interesting

[@danielthompson6511]

I was a TOW system repairmen back in the day

[@coreychipman]

...Can't touch this...Hammertime! Fantastic work gentlemen.

[@NMMV_USA]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@filonin2]

Need this in War Thunder, ASAP!

[@alluraambrose2978]

Indeed, Gajoobles plx.

[@cohenworrior898]

So the mule has a bit of kick then. Great vid, solid info.

[@Slythis1985]

Well that was a fascinating video! I kind of wish I had a need for something like that.

[@tomhenry897]

Remember those mounted on mules 101st 80 to 81 Going to jeeps when showed up

[@shawmarcus1989]

Never heard of this piece of equipment😮😮

[@relectric69]

Used to see the mules running around LeJeune early 80s, narrow tires and a recoiless rifle instead of the tow.

[@Bill-wz6tw]

These Mules were also used with recoilless rifle systems in Vietnam

[@N238E]

As a former airborne infantryman, this makes me angry because this would have been perfect for our unit.

[@WildBillCox13]

They out-jeeped the jeep.

[@tomhenry897]

Where did you get the sight? Does it still work?

[@Cowboycomando54]

I am surprised that there isn't a modernized version of the mule in service. Seems like it would work well even in modern airborne, amphibious, and limited special operations, especially with how modifiable the are. It even has a smaller profile than the M-Gator that replaced it.

[@tomrobertson3236]

Marines in 75 used them to pack supplies for a company Also weapons plt put a 106 recoiless rifle on it

[@skenzyme81]

They were on to something. In the Drone Age, five men in five light vehicles is more effective than five men in one vehicle that costs several times the combined cost of the five light vehicles.

[@chronicandironic8701]

Love your coveralls bro. Are those Bulwarks?

[@Ibuki01]

Can you talk about the recoilless rifle they mounted on the Mule as well?

[@jasonedens3778]

We had Mules (no TOW capability) still in operation at Marine Barracks Guantanamo Bay in the late 80's. They were potentially tippy at "speed".

[@TheBic4]

Honest to god this should still be in service with the option of being a controlled remotely in another variant.

[@koenvangeleuken6544]

first Mule i see with those wide tires. were those actually used?

[@darkninjacorporation]

I love how despite being a 50’s design, they’re just so brutally practical I feel like I could go buy one at a farm shop with almost no changes. Eh, minus the TOW… unfortunately…

[@willdavis7966]

"Rah" Semper Fi 🇺🇸

[@orgonsolo6291]

These mules just appear fantastically useful. Is there anything comparable on the market today?

[@trulyinfamous]

Maybe one of those little Japanese Kei trucks but those are more suited to roads than the offroading of the mule.

[@orgonsolo6291]

@@trulyinfamous Aye, while they certainly are neat, I just like the idea of having a flat loading base to sit on, haul or push set in cruise and walk behind in rough terrain. 4wd all steering capable all terrain l. No doubt some bright souls out there can see a big market for such vehicles especially in this electric age

[@Vtarngpb]

When closing the locking lever, shouldn't you be in the gunner's position, and reaching up from underneath? 😉

[@drexsol2312]

Do you guys have a vehicle similar in idea but with a Recoilless Rifle. Because I only saw it in a clip about the battle of Saigon, on some history documentary.

[@NMMV_USA]

Sure do. It is on display in our Vietnam War gallery.

[@marijnnn4992]

Are those launchers still in use

[@paralogregt]

With all the extra weight a grunt has to carry these days its about time a newer version came out.

[@zombe5150_]

Careful... This thing could come to life and take you out. I've seen it firsthand... In a movie

[@cascadianrangers728]

I've fired quite a few TOWS, the last ones and last ammo was getting used up right when I hit the fleet in the USMC and I was able to to train on and live fire, and Javlen atgm and as nice as top attack, soft launch and fire and forget are, nothing can hit like the lastest tandem and triplex shaped charge warheads, with the exception of a shot right into the front armor, nothing is surviving a TOW hit, there aren't going to be any mobility kills or glances, you can steer it right into the turret ring and BAM all the ammo is going to go and it's scrap metal falling from the sky.

[@KC-nd7nt]

The first second you hear steel banging in trans , you immediately stop

[@jamie010384]

Omg he just flagged me with the TOW!!!

[@sun_intouch]

Gaijin when 😂

[@mlgredvine8897]

Please put this in warthunder

[@tristan1234567890]

10:13 Lol then suddenly there were some Dutch Conscripts .... LOL

[@erraov9976]

Arma 3 Prairie fire DLC

[@chrismair8161]

And then some NASA "Geek" made a model of an Origami style rover that folded into the size of a Suitcase and drove the 1/4 sized wee beastie into his Office. That would be Werner Von Braun and he loved it! Wire tires and 4 wheel steering "that was not working" for Apollo 15. So! They drove it backwards. (We are here so..make due with what we got!)

[@bwilliams463]

Now that's a cliche with a KICK.

[@brightfrost]

Gaijin when?

[@ItsSlakc]

we need this in war thunder

[@kasparvg]

anti-tank go-kart

[@JeffEbe-te2xs]

Funnier is a 106 mounted on one of these

[@dennisvandermarkt8263]

I want one . Lol

[@simo805]

Not much of suspension there

[@ninj333]

Tank hunter

[@Preciouspink]

…Wire command link guided missile system

[@sforza209]

I wonder what would happen if you were to shoot your tow missile and some idiot in a truck crosses in front of you and runs into the wire? That couldn’t be a pretty scene.

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Not The Worst Doctrine Just Really Qualityless

[@William_Bryant]

TOOB CART TOOB CART TOOB CART

[@funwithmagnus8570]

When is this coming to War Thunder? Huh Gaijin????

[@johnanon6938]

Other vehicles with more of an impact on the crowds... oh right you don't want physical impact!

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Incredible History Amazing Presentation Beautiful Boomstick So The Missile doesn’t Auto cut? Weird Design, do Modern Tows not cut after Consumption? Inept Braindead Army Command Missing The entire Vibe of how Light Infantry Work’s I can Believe that without Doubt So Sad

[@volhv2548]

one fall on side and this will be it, for crew and vehicle. Willys jeep was designed better.

[@manslovepizzagaming]

War thunder pls pls plssssa

[@steadmanuhlich6734]

Ukraine could use something like this.

[@scottsuttan2123]

😂 germans had this back in 42-43

[@drones7838]

Ukraine has entered the chat