Carrying The Lance

Lance is an American Surface to Surface Missile system (SSM) that was deployed by several NATO countries in Europe from the 70s to the early 90s. It was operated by the USA, UK, Germany, Holland, Italy and Belgium and was capable of firing a nuclear or conventional warhead, although the non-US countries only possessed the nuclear option. This article will review the vehicles, the organisation and the missile employment and is based on the authors own experiences as a regimental officer between 1983 and 1986 with the British Army. A number of these vehicles have now found their way into private hands and hopefully this will add some useful background detail to help make the vehicles come to life again.

Lance began life in late 1962 as a development by Ling-Temco-Vought Inc. (later the Vought Corporation) to replace the Honest John system which was then in use with many NATO countries. It was first fired in March 1965 as the XMGM-52A and was immediately found to be extremely accurate for what is an “aimed” rather than “guided” weapon. An extended range version was launched in 1969 and it was approved by the US Army for use with a nuclear warhead in May 1972. British interest began in 1966 when a military team was sent out to Fort Sill, in the USA, to evaluate the system and this continued to be staffed until 1975 when Honest John was retired from the British Army and Lance accepted.

Lance equipment then began to arrive in the UK and training and conversion took place up until the end of 1976, including the first firing of Lance from the RA Range in the Hebrides by 36 Msl Battery. Due to the increased potential of the new system, Britain’s two Honest John Regiments, 50 Msl Regt RA and 24 Msl Regt RA, were amalgamated in 1977, 50 Msl Regt remaining. During its service the Regiment consisted of either 3 or 4 Missile Batteries, a Headquarters Battery, a REME Workshops, and the 69th US Army Field Artillery Detachment.

Organisation

Within each Battery the Battery Commander (BC) was responsible for overall control. The BC would locate areas for the Battery to deploy in and liaise with the Regimental Command Post. The Battery Command Post was based on a 432 APC converted to take the Field Artillery Computing Equipment (FACE) and was responsible for the issue and receipt of orders from the Regimental CP. The CP was also responsible for passing orders to the A&T Troop regarding the mating and preparation of missiles for future use. Most communication was done in code and fire orders were done using one-time message pads using a secure code.

The Firing Troop was responsible for the survey and reconnaissance of launcher sites, resupply and admin. Each firing section consisted of a M752 Lance launcher and two 432s as a command post and section vehicle. The launcher was adapted from the M113 series and proved to be a popular and reliable vehicle that was easy to drive and maintain. The two-man crew (driver and commander) had a small compartment in the front left of the vehicle and once in action the cab could be folded flat to protect the inside from blast when firing. The rest of the vehicle was basically open and the back consisted of a one-piece door that folded down to form a ramp allowing easy access. Simple maintenance could be done on the engine through a panel on the front of the vehicle but any major work involved the removal of the launcher truss or crane to access the engine fully.

Each launcher was commanded by a Lieutenant with a Sgt as 2i/c and a crew of 8-10 to man the radio, deploy the launcher and provide local defence. Launchers could be deployed with or without a missile and would move independently to their surveyed location and hide up, deploying at the last possible minute to fire the missile at the required time. Once fired the launcher would “scoot” to its next location, resupply point or hide area. For special operations the launcher truss was removable and could be fitted to the alternative firing platform, the towed LWL (Light Weight Launcher M740), sometimes known as the “Zero length launcher”. This complete unit and crew could be carried by medium lift helicopters and although an unlikely scenario, gave the commander another deployment option.

To prepare and programme the missile the warhead had several accessible panels. The Americans, who effectively owned the warhead, required access to unlock it and select one of the three variable yields, and the host nation also needed access to the controls that set the times for the burning of the boost and sustainer motors which controlled the flight of the missile. Should all this sound rather old fashioned and unscientific, I know that test firings showed it to be able to hit an area the size of a football pitch from a range of over 100km , the resulting bang being enough to compensate for any other inaccuracies!

The “assembly and transport” of the missiles was done by the A&T troop. This troop was responsible for transporting and assembling the missiles and warheads and doing any maintenance that had to be done on them. The assembling of the missiles was done on two M688 Loader/Transporter (LTs) vehicles. These were identical to the Lance launchers except that they had a crane fitted instead of a firing truss. These items were interchangable although in practice vehicles tended to remain in one role unless changed at REME Workshop level. Each L/T was capable of carrying two fully assembled missiles. To transport the missiles the Troop had a fleet of trucks to carry the first line supply of missiles which was three per launcher. Warheads and missiles travelled in their protective metal containers. 4 Ton Bedfords carried two warheads each, while 8 Ton Bedfords carried two missiles and the fin boxes which were separate. This was very truck intensive as we also had a spare 4 and 8 Ton truck in case of breakdowns on the move, making a grand total of 9 x 4 Tonners and 9 x 8 Tonners in the Troop!

Once in the field A&T were responsible for the setting up of an FSS (Field Storage Site). This consisted of a Landrover based command post co-located with the command post of the American detachment, another Landrover. Each Battery would have an officer and a section of Americans who would be responsible for the receipt of an authenticated nuclear release messages from the USA. These when matched with a UK release message would enable the Americans to unlock the warhead or warheads, depending on how many were authorised, and also to authorise the firing of the missile.

It was generally assumed that these missiles would only be fired at the end of a war and therefore may have to be kept hidden for some time making them a high priority target for air attack, fifth columnists and Spetnaz type forces. Defending the Regiment once deployed used to be the responsibility of an infantry company. However this was not a popular job and infantry companies have plenty of other things to do. The Gunner answer was to form their own infantry called the Special Defence Group. These were of platoon strength and structure per Battery and had special weaponry including the GPMG SF (Sustained Fire version). They travelled in short wheel base Landrovers and protected convoys as well as providing a fixed defence and patrols once the missiles were deployed.

The Missile

The Lance Missile we used was the MGM 52C. This was some 6.15m long and had a diameter of 0.56m. It consisted of two main sections, the warhead and the missile, which included the detachable fins, and all of which had to be connected together. Once assembled a removable sight could be fitted to the missile for aiming it and an umbilical power and data cable was attached between it and the truss, which sheared off as the missile left the launcher. The missile had a range of between 10 and 110 km and weighed some 1,294 kg. The missile was what was known as a “Pre-packaged, bi-propellent, liquid rocket system.” The chemicals involved were extremely dangerous and numerous drills and procedures existed and were practiced in the event of a missile being punctured and leaking. Specialist equipment also existed to “pump out” the missiles and these were held by ATOs (Ammunition Technical Officers) of what was then the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC).

The warhead came in three types:

Nuclear

High explosive (only purchased by the USA)

Telemetry (Test firings only)

The warhead was stored and carried in a two-piece metal container and could be accessed through a panel. The lid was removable by hand but the standard drill was to use the LT crane to avoid damage to the warhead. Once the lid had been removed two straps could be fitted under the warhead and it could then be lifted. The missile was stored in a similar fashion and had a cover over the motor outlet which had to be removed prior to firing. The fins, which were purely to impart spin for stability in flight also came in two separate boxes and these were simply snapped onto lugs at the rear of the missile. For ease these boxes were always kept with the missile.

Employment

Due to the political nature of nuclear weapons the warheads were actually owned by the Americans and the missiles by the host nation. Each regiment had an American detachment attached to them who were responsible for the warheads in both peace and war and for control of the peace time nuclear storage sites. On receipt of a properly authenticated release message from the USA the detachment would “unlock” the warhead thus allowing it to explode at the other end. Once they had done that their role was fairly unclear although they were likely to remain with us as we had their rations!

Our biggest operational concern was that anyone watching our movements, once deployed, would be able to identify the Regiment by the American soldiers or our “signature” vehicles i.e. the tracks of a M113 type vehicle amongst 432 tracks. Our aim was to look like a rear logistic transport unit and to conceal our real purpose we tried to hide the vehicles as far as possible by fitting tarpaulins on the Bedfords and frames on the SPL/LTs to make them look like stores or ammunition vehicles. The Americans were issued Landrovers and Bedford lorries with British drivers and although they had their own weapons they used our NBC equipment. This meant that as we spent most of the time wearing NBC equipment they did not stand out as a possible unit identifier and the only time they were really exposed was when travelling to a launcher to unlock a warhead.

Resupply

In addition to all the above mentioned units, but not in the same barracks was a Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) Regiment who were solely responsible for resupplying 50 Msl Regt with lance missiles from second and third line stocks, if it ever came to that. Our Regiment was 8th Regt RCT and they possessed a mirror fleet of trucks to our own. The idea was that on resupply we would arrive with e.g. 20 empty trucks and they would arrive with 20 identical but loaded trucks. We would meet at night in a suitable place such as a car park or large lay-by and park along side each other. We would always arrive first as we had empty vehicles and the loaded ones were not to be kept stationary. On the given signal and after signing the necessary paperwork we would simply swap vehicles and we would drive off first with the fresh supply of missiles and warheads.

Firing

Firing camps were conducted at the Royal Artillery Range in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, where Rapier firings were also conducted. The camp usually took the form of a Regimental camp with a composite unit of two launchers per Battery and made up of soldiers who had not seen a launch before. Due to the expense involved normally only one launcher per Battery fired and the job given to crews who had not done it before. Firings were essentially technical rather than tactical events due range safety restrictions but variations such as night firings and launches under full NBC conditions were practiced with some 6 missiles being fired by the Regiment on each camp.

For firings a special telemetry warhead was fitted. This was basically a ballistically matched cone filled with concrete and instrumentation to help in tracking the missile and giving feedback on its performance in flight. A spot in the ocean was picked as the target and the missile would be fired. The missile would be tracked from the Range Control and also from the tracking station on the island of St Kilda, someway out in the Atlantic. Launchings were always tense and spectacular. The missiles contained highly poisonous chemicals and were treated with more than the usual care! Safety was very important as the back blast area was quite large. Although loud and spectacular the missile flew so fast that it was lost from sight within a second and this made night launchings more popular as the missile could be followed a long way out to sea and with the right equipment you could take some amazing photographs!

By Royal Command!

During the Queen’s visit to the Royal Artillery in 1984 a huge parade was planned including a drive past of all the tracked guns, launchers and associated vehicles. This took place in Dortmund on the sports fields of a wartime Flak Kaserne. The Queen needed a suitable vehicle from which to inspect the parade and someone came up with the idea of removing the truss or crane from a Lance vehicle and installing a flat platform. With easy access from the large fold-down rear door the Queen could easily walk into the vehicle and be driven round the parade with ease. This modification was rushed into service and with the aid of a few tins of paint and polish the “Queen-mobile” was the star of the show and, I believe, much appreciated by Her Majesty! As an after note it is amazing to note that every piece of artillery equipment on parade that day (M109, M107, M110, Abbot, Tracked Rapier, Lance, etc) has either gone out of service or been replaced.

Scuppered by the Peace Dividend!

The Regiment was finally disbanded under the British Governments “Options for Change” defence review in 1991 as it was very manpower intensive and expensive to maintain. Despite the development of an improved Lance 2 system and a sub-munition filled warhead, more modern systems such as the cruise missile and the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) were available and, offering a less manpower intensive and more flexible option, soon won the day. The nuclear warheads were returned to America and I have no idea what happened to our missiles. The landrovers and Bedfords were redistributed and the older ones pensioned off. The tracked vehicles were put up for sale and I believe Austria bought a number of the cargo carriers to support their M109 artillery regiments. Some have found their way onto the private market and a small number have gone to museums such as Bovington and the Royal Artillery museum in Woolwich.

Lance was the end of the large surface launched rockets for the Royal Artillery. They had begun by firing V2s in October 1945 during the allied “Operation Backfire” and had moved on with Corporal and Honest John as well as flirting with home grown products such as Blue Water and the more successful Bloodhound and Thunderbird SAM systems. However if you believe what the papers say then the cruise missile will soon be challenging tube artillery for a place on the battlefield and if so then maybe the missile regiment will make a surprise return from suspended animation!



Article submitted by Tim Royall