MGM-52 Lance


The MGM-52 Lance was a mobile field artillery tactical surface-to-surface missile system used to provide both nuclear and conventional fire support to the United States Army. The missile's warhead was developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It was replaced by MGM-140 ATACMS, which was initially intended to likewise have a nuclear capability during the Cold War.

History

The first Lance missiles were deployed in 1972, replacing the earlier Honest John rocket and Sergeant SRBM ballistic missile, greatly reducing the weight and bulk of the system, while improving both accuracy and mobility. They were deployed extensively in Europe after 1972. In 1990, it was reported that 90 launchers were deployed in western Europe, with 300 conventional high explosive warheads and 700 nuclear warheads available. 150 nuclear warheads were reportedly in the United States, bringing the total available nuclear warheads to at least 850, which are all now believed to have been destroyed by the US.
The Lance missile was progressively removed from service from 1991 to 1994 and was partially replaced in the conventional role by the MGM-140 ATACMS. Some surplus missiles were used as intercept targets by MIM-23 Hawk and MIM-104 Patriot systems. An upgrade for the Lance was planned and named Follow-on-to-Lance. Army planners envisioned a new missile with a range of 250 to 270 miles, considerably longer than the range of the Lance missile, but within the limits for short-range missiles allowed under the INF Treaty. However, in the context of nuclear disarmament the NATO summit in May 1990 decided not to go forward with modernization to the FOTL standard.
The Bundeswehr Museum of German Defense Technology in Koblenz has one of these rockets in its collection.

Design

Payload

The payload consisted either of a W70 nuclear warhead with a yield of or a variety of conventional munitions. The W70-3 nuclear warhead version was one of the first warheads to be battlefield-ready with an "enhanced radiation" capability. The W70-3 warhead became available after 1982, and only to US forces. Conventional munitions included single conventional shaped-charge warhead for penetrating hard targets and for bunker busting or a cluster configuration containing 836 M74 bomblets for anti-personnel and anti-materiel uses. The original design considered a chemical weapon warhead option, but this development was cancelled in 1970.

Guidance, navigation, and control

Lance missiles were equipped with simple inertial navigation systems, which use sensors to track the movement of the missile and compare it to a known starting point to guide the missile to the target. The missile is spin stabilized in flight to improve accuracy, achieving a circular error probable of 492 ft.

Propulsion

The Lance used stable liquid propellants. The missile's engine had an unusual arrangement, with a small sustainer engine mounted within a toroidal boost engine. They were capable of speed greater than Mach 3 and had a range of up to 80 mi.

Launch platform and support equipment

A Lance battery consisted of two M752 launchers and two M688 auxiliary vehicles, for a total six missiles; the firing rate per unit was approximately three missiles per hour. The launch vehicles were also able to carry and launch the MGR-1 Honest John with a special kit for operational war-zone mission-dependent flexibility.

Operators

Former operators

United States Army
British Army
Israeli Defence Forces
Royal Netherlands Army
  • 129th Artillery Battalion
Belgian Land Component
  • 3rd Artillery Battalion
Italian Army
German Army
  • 150th Rocket Artillery Battalion
  • 250th Rocket Artillery Battalion
  • 350th Rocket Artillery Battalion
  • 650th Rocket Artillery Battalion