TV Missile

A TV Missile is a guided air-to-ground missile that carries a large payload. It is remotely controlled by the crew.

Battlefield 3
The TV Missile is a specialization that provides an attack helicopter gunner with a controllable missile. Because it is steered by the gunner, it cannot be diverted by countermeasures due to its user-controlled nature. It can also be used by the pilot of a helicopter should they have an empty seat and decide to switch to the gunner position mid flight.

The TV missile is sometimes hard to control because the gunner can only fire it in the direction the helicopter is facing, since the missle is mounted on the underside of the helicopter's stub wing in a fixed position. The pilot must provide the gunner with a suitable angle on a potential target. The missile travels at a constant, very fast rate of speed up to about 1000 meters.

One missile is enough to take down an enemy aircraft. The player can exit the TV Missile pressing if it happens to miss the desired target, or to guarantee straight flight towards a stationary or slow-moving target. (Be careful not to spam the key or you will exit the helicopter!)

In games in which the airspace is heavily contested, TV missiles are an excellent complement to Heat Seekers on the pilot, as the pilot can fly at high altitude and engage enemy jets while the gunner engages other targets with missiles.

Patches
Various patches have attempted to eliminate bugs associated with TV Missile use.

One notable correction was made to the TV Missile's behavior against airborne targets. Before patch, the missile would not hit its target, even when steered properly. Missiles would also occasionally bounce harmlessly off their air target.

Another notable correction was to the missile's damage against armor. Before patch, the missile would destroy its target in one hit. Missiles now inflict only enough damage to disable armor at full health.

On rare occasions, a TV missile will impact its own helicopter during launch, destroying the vehicle and causing a teamkill and suicide, even if friendly fire is turned off

Trivia

 * While the gunner is controlling the TV missile, their nametag will appear on the missile instead of the chopper gunner seat. The gunner's character model may also disappear from the copilot seat, as they are considered by the game to 'exist' in the missile itself.
 * Although the missile controls and camera cut out near maximum range, the missile will continue to travel for a fraction of a second longer.