I want to depict the HAWK Missile system being towed by the M561 Gama Goat… I have read that it was used from time to time, but not the standard way to tow the system. I cannot find any pictures of the Goat towing the system… my question is if the trailer would be unused when towing the HAWK. I have seen the goat towing artillery with the trailer still being used.
No idea if it pulled a Hawk missile launcher, but if you are talking about the rear half of the Gamma Goat, no. It is not actually a trailer, but a paired unit. The vehicle is a single, integrated 6x6 unit with an articulated chassis, where the front (tractor) and rear (carrier) sections are permanently connected and both are essential for its function.
Thinking of Air Defence I’ve seen a Goat towing the Vulcan cannon, but admittedly, not a Hawk system; however, for what it’s worth:
In 1/35 all you need then is one of these!
But no Hawk I’m afraid.
Yes, I saw that picture which is what gave me the idea… I should have mentioned that. I have a HAWK but not the Vulcan so as I researched the HAWK and asked about the Goat - Google said “yes… but very rarely” LoL. I may just look for the Vulcan. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks Gino… I wasn’t aware that it was permanently connected to operate. “Google said” the goat had been known to tow the HAWK but it was very rare… rare enough, I guess, that no photos exist so google could be wrong LoL
On a side note, the Gama Goat was also used with the AN/MPQ-49 FAAR (Forward Area Alerting Radar) developed to support the M48 Chaparral and M163 Vulcan Air Defense System
H.P.
See TM 9-2320-242-10
Pages 2-11 and 2-12 show very well why the carrier (“trailer”) cannot be uncoupled.
(I must say, though, that I’m glad I have the 1970 edition, with its airbrushed photographs instead of the line drawings in that PDF of the 1980 edition.)
Didn’t Dragon put out A Towed Hawk?
If i’m not mistaken, During the Invasion of Panama, a GG was towing A Russian ZU-23/2 Unit; Sounds to me, It can Tow any Light/Medium Loads
I wonder if Gama Goats were part of the Hawk Batteries TO&E. And if so, they likely had an assigned item to tow such as a generator or radar set. The few photos that I could find of mobile HAWK batteries showed the missiles being moved on the back of Deuce and a Half’s.
According to the 1970 TM, the maximum towed load is 6120 lbs, which equates to 2775 kg in real-world units. (Oddly, you have to get this from a photo of the data plates, rather than from the tabulated data, and it doesn’t look like it’s in the 1980s TM at all.)
However, IIRC payloads and towed loads for US off-road–capable vehicles are usually given for off-road conditions, and are roughly double that on-road.
I actually built an M561 towing an M102 years ago when Tamiya first released their Goat… it was a fun build.
That reminds me! I recall seeing the same on an exercise that took place in December 1975 on Salisbury Plain. It was called Advent Express and had Belgian, and US (and Brits obviously) units rammed into the exercise area. The US stuff was in the MASSTER scheme and there was a photograph taken at the time almost exactly the same as this picture, save for helmets and colour scheme.
I was at a Divisional HQ nearby and we provided the staff for Exercise Control (EXCON) at Westdown Camp (wooden huts but cosy enough - it was December - and we still had snow back then). I remember chatting up the only female on the exercise, the WRAF Driver for a senior RAF officer, when a Goat and some Mechanical Mules trundled past on their way to God knows where; the US soldiers on the vehicles, having spotted my wooing, gave forth some words of encouragement, in true military fashion.
I’ve often thought about modelling that particular scenario!
Go for it!
It would be quite a scene!
It would, in a way, be quite something perhaps. Me - my usual insouciant self - airily trying to impress impassive Air Force girl, and say, a Goat rammed with ribald soldiers venting their encouragement.
That would be something to replicate… personal connection to something you build. I can just see some of your comrades driving by with Jeers & Cheers for you. ![]()
I dunno Ted, I think I’ve done enough of me in 1/35 - people will get sick of it(!)
I was lucky in a way, in that they were Americans; their comments didn’t go much beyond something like ”Hey buddy! Get some!” I dread to think what utterances a passing Brit truck would have issued.
PS: As it happened, I did in fact, secure a date(!)
Simply let the plaque/presentation say ‘Story inspired by real events’.









