Lance Missile (MGM-52C)

 
A Lance Missile on its mobile launcher

The Lance missile was deployed with U.S. Army forces from 1972 to 1991, largely in West Germany. It was also deployed with British, Belgian, Dutch, Italian, and West German armies. More than 2,300 were purchased at a cost of over $2 billion (in constant 1996 dollars). The Lance had a range of 3 to 78 miles (5 to 125 kilometers), although its accuracy decreased at longer ranges. The Lance was a dual-capable weapon, that is it could carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. The nuclear warhead, the W70, had a yield of 1-100 kilotons and was produced both as a standard fission weapon and an enhanced radiation (ER) weapon.

Another view of the Lance Missile, raised to the firing postion

Credit: (top) U.S. Army (courtesy Natural Resources Defense Council); (bottom) U.S. Army (courtesy Center for Defense Information)