OK! Notwithstanding what's been said before I might be able to shed some light here having been involved in MARTEL with 12 Sqn in the mid-70s (and having actually fired a TVM on Aberporth during Trial Mistico).
The launch range for TVM was 10nm and the missile climbed to 2000ft after launch where it flew autonomously until the navigator caught a glimpse of the target on his TV screen whence he would select Terminal Phase, take control and dive the missile into the target. He could side step the missile up/down/left/right in the cruise phase and he could slew the seeker head left and right - all this to assist with target acquisition. Of the 6 missiles fired on my Mistico all hit the target within 3 metres apart from a rogue that went skywards upon selection of Terminal Phase and had to be destroyed by Range Control.
The problem that TVMARTEL had was that it cruised at 420 kts which, despite its small radar cross-section, could make it vulnerable to an alert and capable AD radar (we exercised on Aberporth with F4s trying to track the missile in flight (unsuccessfully, I seem to recall for them and frighteningly when the 14 foot rogue cleared cloud going vertical and shot past the F4's starboard wingtip!). ARMs were launched at 19nms and climbed to high altitude before descending whilst homing towards the Topsail or Headnet C radar. With their proximity fuses the tactical plan was to suppress the targets' acquisition radar and thus allow a clearer path into the target for the Mike 1 or Papa 1 attackers. Of course, the TVM launchers never approached the target by anything inside about 8nms and at very low level were invulnerable to Soviet AD systems of the day.
I proved the effectiveness of ARM when, equipped with inert missiles but war seeker heads, I was tasked to find 4 Soviet warships (they had been lost by the Kipper Fleet having been handed over to them by the Norwegians) off the north of Scotland in the Iceland/Faeroes Gap. With one seeker looking for Topsail and the other Headnet C, we easily picked up the 4 ships at a range of over 100nms and, following the missile steer, flew straight to them at 100feet! MARTEL was a good system in its day.
Now lets turn the clock forward to 1982 and focus our attention on Op Corporate. In the mid-70s, whenever Buccaneers got through to the RN ships during a maritime exercise, the RN always retaliated at the debrief at JMOTS with 'Yes, maybe, but there is no Soviet air threat at sea!' In the mid- to late 70s that was indeed true but it did mean that when they went south in 1982, they were not quite as well prepared as they might have been and their mindset was definitely in the wrong place!
As for TVMARTEL, it was eventually replaced by Sea Eagle, which was an autonomous sea-skimmer that was launched from a much greater range and at low level - so no vulnerability issues for the delivery aircraft with regard to the targets' AD systems there!
Hope that answers any questions or doubts.
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