MGM-52 Lance

The MGM-52 Lance was a mobile field artillery tac-tical surface-to-surface missile (SRBM) system used toprovide both nuclear and conventional fire support to theUnited States Army. The missile’s warhead was devel-oped at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It wasreplaced by MGM-140 ATACMS.

1 Deployment

The first Lance missiles were deployed in 1972, replac-ing (together with the US-Navy’s nuclear-tipped RIM-2D & RIM-8E/B/D) the earlier Honest John rocket andSergeant SRBM ballistic missile, greatly reducing theweight and bulk of the system, while improving both ac-curacy and mobility.[2]

A Lance battery (two fire units) consisted of two M752launchers (one missile each) and two M688 auxiliary ve-hicle (two missiles each),[2] for a total six missiles. Thefiring rate per unit was approximately three missiles perhour.

2 Payload

The payload consisted either of a W70 nuclear warheadwith a yield of 1-100 kt or a variety of conventional muni-tions. TheW70-3 nuclear warhead version was one of thefirst warheads to be battlefield-ready with an “enhancedradiation” (neutron bomb) capability. Conventional mu-nitions included cluster bombs for use against SAM-Sites,heat seeking Anti-Tank Cluster munitions or a single uni-tary conventional shape-charged warhead for penetratinghard targets and for bunker busting. The original designconsidered a chemical weapon warhead option, but thisdevelopment was cancelled in 1970.

3 Deactivation

With the signing of the INF Treaty in 1987, the UnitedStates Army began withdrawing Lance missiles from Eu-rope. By 1992, all United States Army Lance warheadswere in storage awaiting destruction. Following its deacti-vation, surplus rockets were retained to be used as targetsfor anti-missile systems.

4 Operators[3][4]

United States

• US Army

• 1st Bn, 12th Field Artillery Regiment 1973-1992 Fort Sill[2]

• 1st Bn, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment 1975-1991 Hanau, Germany

• 6th Bn, 33rd Field Artillery Regiment 1975-1987 Reflag as 6th Bn, 32nd Field ArtilleryRegiment 1987-91 Fort Sill[5] (One Btry wasForward Deployed to South Korea)[6]

• 2nd Bn, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment 1974-1987 Reflag as 4th Bn, 12th Field ArtilleryRegiment 1987-1991 Crailsheim, Germany

• 3rd Bn, 79th Field Artillery Regiment 1974-1986 Reflag as 2nd Bn, 32nd Field ArtilleryRegiment 1986-? Giessen, Germany

• 1st Bn, 80th Field Artillery Regiment1974-1987 Reflag as 3rd Bn, 12th Field ArtilleryRegiment 1987-1991 Aschaffenburg, Ger-many

• 1st Bn, 333rd Field Artillery Regiment 1973-1986 Reflag as 3rd Bn, 32nd Field ArtilleryRegiment 1986-? Wiesbaden, Germany

• 2nd Bn, 377th Field Artillery Regiment 1974-1987 Reflag as 2nd Bn, 12th Field ArtilleryRegiment 1987-1992 Herzogenaurach, Ger-many

United Kingdom

• British Army

• 50th Missile Regiment Royal Artillery

Israel

• Israeli Defence Force

Netherlands

• Netherlands Army

• 129th Artillery Battalion 1979-1992

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Belgium

• Belgium Army

• 3rd Artillery Battalion

Italy

• Italian Army

• 3rd Missile Brigade “Aquileia” (up to 1991,then from 1992 to 2001, 3rd Missile Rgt)

Germany

• German Army

• 150th Rocket Artillery Battalion• 250th Rocket Artillery Battalion• 350th Rocket Artillery Battalion• 650th Rocket Artillery Battalion

5 See also

• Sea Lance, a similarly named, but unrelatedsubmarine-launched missile.

• List of military aircraft of the United States

• List of missiles

• M-numbers

6 References

[1] “LanceMissile (MGM-52C)",U.S. NuclearWeapons CostStudy Project, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution,August 1998, retrieved October 11, 2011.

[2] Ripley, Tim. The new illustrated guide to the modern USArmy. Salamander Books Ltd. pp. 92–93. ISBN 0-86101-671-8.

[3] http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/FieldArtillery/Org%20Charts_Lance1.htm

[4] http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/FieldArtillery/Org%20Charts_Lance.htm

[5] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/6-32fa.htm

[6] http://wiley2-5fa.com/favorite.htm#lance

7 External links• Video of Lance missiles being launched by BritishArmy in 1992 - #1

• Video of British Army Lance launches in 1992 - #2

• Video of British Army Lance launches in 1992 - #3

• Redstone Arsenal History - Lance

• Herzobase.org - Lance Missile base in Germany

• Designation Systems Article

• Brookings Institution photos and data

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