SS.10
| SS.10 | |
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| General Information | |
| Type | Surface-to-surface missile ( anti-tank missile ) |
| Local name | SS.10 |
| NATO designation | MGM-21A |
| Country of origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Nord Aviation |
| development | Jean Bastien-Thiry at Arsenal de l'Aéronautique |
| Commissioning | 1955 |
| Working time | 1955 until today |
| Unit price | $ 68,000 |
| Technical specifications | |
| length | 86 cm |
| diameter | 16 cm |
| Combat weight | 15 kg |
| span | 75 cm |
| drive | Solid rocket engine |
| speed | 80 m / s |
| Range | 500 m to 1600 m |
| Furnishing | |
| steering | wire-operated (MCLOS) |
| Target location | manually |
| Warhead | 5 kg High Explosive Anti Tank (HEAT) |
| Detonator | Contact igniter |
| Weapon platforms | Vehicle, individual |
| Lists on the subject | |
SS.10 is one of Nord Aviation developed wire-guided manual command to line of sight - rocket launcher , which in the US as MGM-21A was used. It was designed by the French engineer Jean Bastien-Thiry , who was later executed for an attempted murder of French President Charles de Gaulle . The rocket entered service with the French Army in 1955 and was briefly used by the United States Army in the early 1960s . In January 1962 production was stopped after about 30,000 rockets were built.
development
Development began in France in 1948 when the military aircraft manufacturer Arsenal de l'Aéronautique from Châtillon sous Bagneux was looking for ways to further develop the German Ruhrstahl X-7 rocket. An important development goal was a rocket that could be manufactured cheaply: in 1955 the rocket cost 340 francs , the control box 1750 francs. The first shot attempts began in 1952, three years later the development was completed and the rocket was taken into service with the French army as SS.10 (“Sol-Sol” - French for ground-to-ground).
In 1952/53 the US Army acquired 500 rockets and three corresponding launch devices in order to evaluate them for possible own use. However, they came to the conclusion that the weapon was not yet ready for use, but that further developments should be monitored. A new test after the completion of the development in mid-1958 was successful and the later SS.11 (also designed by Bastien-Thiry) and ENTAC missiles were purchased for use in the army.
history
The Israeli armed forces used the missile against Egyptian tanks during the Suez Crisis in 1956 .
The US Army was interested in the missile from an early stage, but pursued the development of its own missile - the SSM-A-23 . However, after their development was stopped in 1958, they considered acquiring the SS.10 and SS.11 rockets. In February 1959 they decided to buy the SS.10 as an emergency solution. The missile was delivered in January 1960 and retired in 1963 in favor of the MGM-32 Entac. The missile was named MGM-21A
description
In flight, the rocket is guided by an unusual arrangement of electrically operated spoilers . The energy required for this is fed into the rocket from the launch device via the steering wire. Since the rocket rotates in flight, a gyroscope is required to transmit the current position of the spoilers. Controlling the missile towards a target is very demanding and requires a high level of skill and concentration, which is typical of MCLOS guided missiles.
Models
Prototypes
- Nord-5201 - two -wing prototype
- Nord-5202 - four-wing prototype
- Nord-5203 - final version
Produced variants
- SS.10 / MGM-21A
user
Web links
- Nord SS.10 / MGM-21 on Designation-Systems.Net (English)
- First Generation ATGMs (Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ US Army: Development of the Shillelagh Missile (English) . Archived from the original on August 20, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2013.