| SS.11 | |
|---|---|
 SS.11 at the U.S. Army Redstone testing ground | |
| Type | MCLOSwire-guidedanti-tank missile |
| Place of origin | France |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Nord Aviation |
| Designed | 1953 |
| Produced | 1956 – mid 1980s |
| No. built | 180,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 30 kg (66 lb) |
| Length | 1,190 mm (3 ft 11 in) |
| Diameter | 165 mm (6.5 in) |
| Wingspan | 500 mm (1 ft 8 in) |
| Effective firing range | 500–3,000 m (1,600–9,800 ft) |
| Warhead | Type 140AC anti-armour |
| Warhead weight | 6.8 kg (15 lb) |
| Maximum speed | 190 m/s (620 ft/s) |
Guidance system | Manual command to line of sight |
TheSS.11 is aFrenchmanual command to line of sightwire-guidedanti-tank missile manufactured byNord Aviation. It is also available in the air-to-ground version,AS.11, which featured a stabilized sighting system. The AS.11 was also known as theAGM-22 in American service. It is among the earliest guided anti-tank missiles, entering service with theFrench Army in 1956 and remaining in service into the 1980s. It also formed the basis for the larger and longer-rangedSS.12/AS.12 series.
The missile was guided manually by comparing the location of the target toflares on the back of the missile and using a small joystick to adjust its flight. The original manual guidance system was replaced in 1967 to produce theHarpon version, which usedSACLOS guidance using aninfrared homing sensor tracking the original flares. This greatly eased the operation of the system, the operator simply had to keep the sights pointed at the target and the missile would automatically fly along the line of sight.
Production of the SS.11 and laterSS.12/AS.12 series missiles ceased some time in the 1980s, by which time over 170,000 had been sold.[1] The price of the SS.11 in the late 1960s was stated at approximately $1,900 U.S. dollars.[2]
The first combat use of the SS.11 was in 1956 by theFrench Air Force, fired from aDassault MD 311 light twin-engine transport, as a method of attacking fortified caves located in steep mountain gorges during theAlgerian war. The combat experiment proved extremely successful and became standard on other French Air Force MD 311s stationed in the Algerian war theater.[3] From this early combat experience in Algeria with fixed wing aircraft firing the SS.11, the French Army took note and introduced the world's first specialized combat helicopter firing antitank missiles, based on theAérospatiale Alouette II and later theAérospatiale Alouette III that fired both the earlier surface-to-surface SS.11 and the AS.11 developed for air-to-surface firing from aircraft, both of which saw extensive combat in that conflict from 1958 to 1962.[4]
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After the cancellation of theSSM-A-23 Dart in 1958, the United States began evaluating the SS.11, and accepted it into service in 1961 as theAGM-22A. The missile was deployed fromUH-1B Huey helicopters using either theXM11 orM22 armament subsystems. In U.S. Army service, the SS.11 was used mainly to develop tactics employing antitank helicopters and to train future helicopter crews. In September 1966, 12 U.S. Army UH-1B helicopters belonging to a special unit, fitted with the XM-58 stabilized sight arrived inSouth Vietnam. One month later, they fired AGM-22s in combat.[5][6] In May 1972 in response to theNorth Vietnamese armor used in theEaster Offensive six UH-1s equipped with AGM-22s were deployed inQuang Tri Province. The system was rated moderately effective against tanks, but was extensively used against bunkers and fortified structures. All units were withdrawn to the U.S. by 31 October 1972.[7]
During the Arab-IsraeliSix-Day War in 1967, the Israeli Army was equipped with a large number of SS.11s supplied by France. SS.11s were used during thebattle of Abu-Ageila.[8]
In 1966, the French Navy did an evaluation of the SS.11(M) and SS.12(M) from the fast patrol boatLa Combattante.[2] In 1966, theLibyan Navy ordered threeVosper Thornycroft fast patrol boats (theSebha,Sirte andSusa). Delivered in 1968, these were the first naval vessels to be armed with the SS.11(M) and AS.12(M) being armed with four on each side of the vessel's bridge;[9] the Libyan fast patrol boats proved that this was a very low-cost way to give long-range heavy firepower to small naval vessels. Other navies soon followed Libya and bought the SS.12(M) and SS.11(M) for their light naval vessels; among them Brunei, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Senegal, and Tunisia. NORD also developed a ten-missile trainable launcher for either the SS.11(M) or SS.12(M), which was sold in numbers due to its extremely cost-effective firepower for both light and medium size naval craft.[2]
During theFalklands War, both theBritish Army and the BritishRoyal Marines usedWestland Scout helicopters armed with the SS.11.[10] On 14 June 1982, two Army and two Marine Scouts attacked Argentine positions on the south-west outskirts ofPort Stanley. Of the ten missiles fired, nine hit their targets and one was lost due to a command wire breaking.[10]
Development of an improved version of theSS.10 (Nord-5203) began in 1953 as the Nord-5210. The missile was intended as a heavy version of the man-portable SS.10 for use from vehicles, ships and helicopters. The missile entered service with the French army as the designation SS.11. It was used as the first helicopter-mounted anti-tank missile in the world (onAlouette IIs).[11]
From 1962,[12] a "B" model of the missile was produced, which replaced some of the original electronics with solid state components. The transistorization improved response time and handling, which reduced the tendency to over-correct during flight.[11] This was the version used for the development of an infantry version, in which the operator carried three warheads and had a "waist belt fire-control," and three other men carried the missile minus its warhead.[2]
One of the most unusual uses of the SS.11 was that of probably the smallest anti-shipping missile in the world, with the Swedish Marines employing it in the anti-landing craft role for decades, until it was replaced by a specialized version of theAGM-114 Hellfire. It was also used by the Finnish coastal artillery for covering narrow channels in the archipelago, being replaced in this role by the IsraeliSPIKE ER (Rannikko-Ohjus 06).
A variety of warheads are available for the missile:[11]
On launch, the SNPE rocket booster, with two outlets on the side of the missile body, burns for 1.2 seconds, after which the Sophie sustainer engine, with single outlet in the rear of the missile body burns for 20 seconds.[2]
Unlike the earlier SS.10, which steered similarly to an airplane with small flight controls called "spoilers" located on the missiles wings, the SS.11 is steered in flight by a unique system developed by NORD for France's firstair-to-air missile, theAA.20, called TVC (thrust vectoring control) in which four small vanes are located around the sustainer's exhaust, which under command momentarily push into the sustainer's thrust causing the missile to move in the direction commanded. Since the missile spins slowly in flight by having the four swept wings slightly offset, agyroscope is needed to determine the missile's relative orientation to the ground, that is, up, down and right, left. Unlike the earlier spoiler flight control, TVC is a far more precise method of controlling a missile in flight. TVC has been copied by other missile designs, including the Russians with their9M14 Malyutka (NATO name: AT-3 Sagger) and theEuromissile HOT andMILAN developed by joint venture of the French and Germans.[2]
Due to the manual nature of the guidance, calledMCLOS, where the operator had to first gain control of the missile and bring it into his line of sight with the target, engagements of targets at short range were poor, but beyond 500 meters accuracy was good to excellent for a well trained operator. In 1967 (by which time NORD had been merged with Aerospatiale), a version of the SS.11, called Harpon, was developed with a much improved guidance system calledSACLOS in which the missile is automatically tracked in flight and brought to the gunner's line of sight. This guidance system drastically increases the SS.11 accuracy, especially at engagement ranges of less than 500 meters.[2]
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| External images | |
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| Nord SS.11 | |
 SS.11 firing from AMX-13 tank | |
| SS.11 on ground mount | |
| SS.11 Fitted to U.S. Army UH-1 | |
| SS.11 HEAT warhead |
