Nord SS.11

SS.11
SS.11 at the US Army Redstone testing ground
Type	MCLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile
Place of origin	France
Production history
Designer	Nord Aviation
Designed	1953
Produced	1956 - mid 1980s
Number built	180,000
Specifications
Weight	30 kg
Length	1190 mm
Diameter	165 mm
Effective range	500 m to 3,000 m
Warhead	Type 140AC anti-armour
Warhead weight	6.8 kg
Wingspan	500 mm
Speed	190 m/s
Guidance system	MCLOS

SS.11 is the designation of the Nord Aviation MCLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile. In American service the missile was designated the AGM-22. The missile entered service with the French army in 1956. Production of the missile ceased some time in the 1980s after 180,000 missiles had been produced.

Development

Development of an improved version of the SS.10 (Nord-5203) began in 1953 as the Nord-5210. The missile was intended as a heavy version of the SS.10 for use from vehicles, ships and helicopters. The missile entered service with the French army under the designation SS.11. It was used as the first helicopter-mounted (on Alouette IIs) anti-tank missile worldwide.^[1]

The later B model of the missile replaces some of the original electronics with solid state components. The transistorisation was rewarded by improved handling, which allowed the missile pilots to overcorrect less.^[1]

History

After the cancellation of the SSM-A-23 Dart in 1958 the United States began evaluating the SS.11, and accepted it into service in 1961 as the AGM-22A. The missile was deployed from UH-1B Huey helicopters using either the XM11 or M22 armament subsystems.

The missile was used in combat for the first time in 1966 during the Vietnam War. The missile was phased out by 1976, having been replaced by the BGM-71 TOW. The British Royal Air Force fired at least four of the missiles in the Falklands War against an Argentine battery of 105mm guns, during the Battle of Wireless Ridge, with little apparent success.^{[citation needed]}

Due to the manual nature of the guidance, performance of the missile was poor—requiring a highly trained operator—see MCLOS.

Description

A variety of warheads are available for the missile:^[1]

• 140AC hollow-charge - 600 mm versus RHA
• 140AP02 blast-fragmentation - 10 mm steel plate
• 140AP59 anti personnel
• 140CCN anti-shipping

On launch the rocket booster fired for 1.2 seconds, after which the sustainer engine fires for 20 seconds.

In flight the missile is steered by the vectoring of thrust from the engine. Since the missile spins in flight, a gyroscope is needed to determine the missile's relative orientation to the ground. This is very similar to the system used on AT-3 Sagger.

Models

• SS.11 / AGM-22 - Surface-to-surface wire-guided anti-tank missile.
  • SS.11A1 XAGM-22A
  • SS.11B1 XAGM-22B
  • SS.11B1 (training) XATM-22B
• AS.11 - Air-to-surface missile.
• SS.11M - Maritime surface-to-surface wire-guided anti-ship missile.

Operators

 Abu Dhabi

 Argentina

 Bahrain

 Belgium

 Brazil

 Brunei

 Canada

 Denmark

 Ethiopia

 Finland

SS 11 B 1, known as "Rannikko-ohjus 63", or "RO-63".

 France

 Germany

 Greece

 India

 Iran

 Iraq

 Israel

 Italy

 Ivory Coast

 Lebanon

 Libya

 Malaysia

 Netherlands

 Norway

 Peru

 Portugal

 Saudi Arabia

 Senegal

 South Africa

 Spain

Aboard Army Alouette III and Navy SH-3/AB-212ASW helicopters

 Sweden

 Switzerland

 Tunisia

 Turkey

 United Kingdom

 Uganda

 United States

 Venezuela

Please note that this list is not complete.

See also

• Aerospatiale SS.12/AS.12, a later derivative of the Nord SS.11

References

• http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/ss11.htm
• http://waronline.org/IDF/Articles/firstATGM.htm (Russian)
• http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-22.html
• Michael J.H. Taylor (1980). Missile's of the World. Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0684165937.