MGM-52 Lance
| MGM-52 Lance | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Type | short-range ballistic missile |
| Local name | MGM-52 Lance |
| Country of origin |
 United States
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| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin (LTV) |
| development | 1960s |
| Commissioning | 1973 |
| Technical specifications | |
| length | 6.17–6.41 m (depending on the version) |
| diameter | 560 mm |
| Combat weight | 1250–1527 kg (depending on the version) |
| drive | Liquid fuel |
| speed | Mach 3.0 |
| Range | 130 km |
| Furnishing | |
| steering | Inertial navigation platform |
| Warhead | W70 nuclear warhead with 1-100 kt |
| Weapon platforms | vehicle |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Lance is a short-range military ballistic missile made in the USA . The U.S. Forces System Index is MGM-52 .
development
The MGM-52 Lance was designed as the successor to the Honest John . In the late 1950s, Lockheed Martin (LTV) began developing systems. The MGM-52 Lance was introduced to the US armed forces in the spring of 1973. In the years that followed, around 2,133 rockets were manufactured.
technology
The Lance is transported with the M752 tracked vehicle and launched from it. The rocket is propelled by a liquid fuel rocket engine. The fuel used is 499 kg RFNA and 170 kg UDMH . In addition, the rocket has rotary engines. These are in the middle fuselage section. The exhaust gases of the rotary engines emerge from four nozzles which are arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and tangential to the circumference of the rocket. This causes the rocket to rotate around its longitudinal axis, which stabilizes the flight. It is controlled using an inertial navigation platform . With this system a hit accuracy ( CEP ) of 150 to 450 meters is achieved (depending on the shooting distance). The rocket needs 200 seconds to cover the maximum firing distance of 130 km. The apogee here is 45.7 km.
variants
- MGM-52A Lance: 1. Series version with a W70 nuclear warhead with a selectable explosive power of 1–100 kt . Range 130 km.
- MGM-52B Lance: 2nd production version with an improved rocket engine.
- MGM-52C Lance: with a warhead with 860 BLU-63B bomblets . Range 72 km.
- MGM-52C Lance: with the M251 warhead with 836 pcs. M40 bomblets. Range 80 km.
- MGM-52C Lance: with a warhead with 822 M74 bomblets. Range 90 km.
- MGM-52C Lance: with a warhead with 300 M74 bomblets.
- MGM-52C Lance: with the M118 fragmentation warhead weighing 463 kg. Range 60 km.
- MGM-52C Lance: with a 227 kg fragmentation warhead. Range 95 km.
- MGM-52C Lance: with E27 warhead with 1137 pcs. E139 Sarin bomblets.
- MGM-52D Lance: with a W70-3 nuclear warhead with increased neutron radiation with a selectable explosive power of 1–10 kt. Range 130 km.
Lance in Germany
In addition to the USA, various NATO states procured the system, including the Federal Republic of Germany in the mid-1970s. Four rocket artillery battalions (RakArtBtl) of the Bundeswehr corps artillery received Lance as the successor to the sergeant . These battalions were distributed between Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Württemberg as follows:
- Missile artillery battalion 150 in the Schill barracks , Wesel , North Rhine-Westphalia
- Rocket artillery battalion 250 in the Eberhard Finckh barracks , Engstingen , Baden-Wuerttemberg
- Rocket artillery battalion 350 in the Westerwald barracks , Montabaur , Rhineland-Palatinate
- The rocket artillery battalion 650, also equipped with Lance, in the von Briesen barracks in Flensburg was deployed as a special feature of the 6th Panzer Grenadier Division in Schleswig-Holstein. In the event of a defense , it was intended to be placed under the LANDJUT corps .
The German Armed Forces used the M668 loading and transport tank ( tracked vehicle ), the M752 launch vehicle and the M782 removable launch frame. The tracked vehicles were based on the American type M667, further developed from the M113 armored transport vehicle.
The ownership of the so-called in specially fortified special ammunition depots ( Special Ammunition Storage deposited) nuclear warheads was within NATO with the United States and was in the individual units run by the US Army Field Artillery Detachment perceived. The guard was carried out in cooperation with the US detachments and guard units ( escort batteries ) of the Bundeswehr. The weapon system had to be decommissioned due to the INF contract of 1987. The German Lance units were dissolved by 1993.
distribution
Within the USA and some NATO countries, the last Lance systems were replaced by the ATACMS system in the early 1990s . A modified version of the Lance is still in use in South Korea and Taiwan.
Web links
- Designation-Systems.net
- MGM-52 Lance in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
- Rocket artillery of the Bundeswehr
- Globalsecurity.org
- 202nd Military Police Company NATO Site 4
- Article about the Lance missile on www.atomwaffena-z.info
Individual evidence
- ↑ Globalsecurity.org: Overview of missile weapons (engl.) (Consulted on October 7, 2019)
- ^ A b Thomas B. Cochran: Nuclear Weapons Databook. Chapter 9: Army Nuclear Weapons . Volume 1, 1984. pp. 284-285.
- ↑ a b Stephan Gerber: The Lance artillery missile system. In: General Swiss Military Journal (ASMZ) . Issue 3/1979. P. 116.