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Aviation History
1973
1973 - 0090.PDF
60 FLIGHT International, 11 January 1973 Lance is normally launched from a modified M-II3 tracked personnel carrier, left, but can also be fired from a towed "zero-length" launcher, below right. The self-propelled vehicle pulls on to a pre-surveyed site, fires the missile and then leaves to avoid retalia tory action. It is accompanied by a loader/ transporter carrying two spare rounds plus a crane to reload the launcher c Weapon Lances on the battlefield again THE LTV AEROSPACE XMGM-52C Lance surface-to-surface artillery (battlefield-support) missile entered service last June with the US Army and will be supplied to at least five other Nato states if contract discussions are successful. Britain was recently asked at the meeting of Eurogroup de fence ministers in Brussels to negotiate for Lance on behalf of West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and the UK (see Flight, December 14, page 881). Greece and Turkey have also ex pressed interest in the weapon. The missile will replace Honest John unguided rockets, which first became operational in 1954, and Sergeant missiles, which entered service in 1962. The former are operated by all five countries now negotiating for Lance, while the latter also equip the German Army. The number of units involved in the proposed purchase has not been revealed, but reports put the contract value at some £250 million, with Britain's share being £70 million. Lance was selected in preference to France's Aerospatiale Pluton, due to enter service with the French Army during the next year and with a per formance virtually identical to that of the American weapon. Britain's BAC Blue Water battlefield-support missile was cancelled in 1962. Lance is designed to go wherever infantry, artillery or tanks would nor mally be operated and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads. Typical targets would be enemy artillery, troop concentrations, missile sites and command posts. The weapon offers several advantages over those which it is replacing: freedom from the need to determine meteorological conditions before firing; improved mobility; quicker reaction time; and less dependence on support equip ment, such as missile heating blankets and power generators. The missile is built by LTV Aero space's Michigan Division of Vought Missiles and Space Co at the Michigan Army Missile Plant, Sterling Heights. Final assembly and tankage construc tion take place there, and the division also operates a Lance test and support base at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Two types of launcher The normal firing platform is a modified, lightly armoured version of the M-113 tracked personnel carrier. It carries a crew of eight and one missile, and can be transported by air in, for example, a C-130 Hercules. On land it travels at up to 40 m.p.h. and it can "swim" at 4 m.p.h. The self-propelled launcher is ac companied by a loader/transporter, to which it is basically identical. Either type of vehicle can be converted to do the work of the other by the addition or removal of the handling unit and launch fixture. The loader/ transporter carries two complete mis siles and a self-contained loading mechanism to transfer the missiles on to the launcher vehicle. This consists of a hydraulically operated crane which can be rotated through 360° and which carries a beam-type sling. The crane also loads the missiles and warheads from their shipping con tainers into the carrying cradles, and changes the missiles' warheads when necessary. Lance can also be operated from a towed launcher, also known as a zero- length launcher, which can be pulled by a 2J2-ton truck or slung beneath a helicopter. It can be manoeuvred manually for short distances, and is quickly assembled in the field by removing the basic launch fixture from the self-propelled launcher and adding the necessary equipment such as jacks, tow bar and trailer assem blies in the Lance mobility kit. All the equipment necessary to launch Lance, such as battery, monitor/programmer, detachable fins and firing reel, is mounted on the launch fixture. The towed launcher can be loaded by a specially developed tripod hoisting unit in the absence of a loader/trans porter. The fins are housed in two con tainers on the side of the launch fixture. Two different sets of fins are used, depending on the weight of the warhead. The large fins, made of aluminium honeycomb, are used with light warheads. With heavier war heads a pair of forged aluminium fins are fitted. The missile is fired from pre- surveyed sites and is aligned in azimuth and elevation by a special sighting unit and mirror bracket used in conjunction with a theodolite on a known reference position. The sight ing unit automatically provides the correct missile elevation as azimuth alignment is completed. All operations necessary to fire the missile are carried out by a monitor/ programmer measuring 16in x 20in x 17in. Its solid-state combined analogue/digital computer supplies Lance with pre-launch power from a 24V, 34Ahr nickel-cadmium battery which can be recharged in an emergency from the self-propelled launcher's voltage regulator. The use of a.battery instead of an electrical generator means that the weapon is silent until launch. The monitor/programmer also in serts range information into the missile guidance set, controls the safe, arming and firing mechanisms and monitors the firing sequence. The readiness state of the missile is indicated by the unit, which prevents arming or firing if Lance is in a "no- go" condition. Launch is activated by
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