View source for SS.10

{{Short description|French anti-tank missile}}
{{Distinguish|text = the Soviet [[UR-200]] intercontinental ballistic missile, the NATO reporting name of which is SS-10 Scrag}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox weapon
| is_missile         = yes
| image              = Nord SS.10 Swedish Navy 001.png
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = SS.10 Missile (designated Robot 51 in Swedish service), housed in the [[Marinmuseum|Swedish Naval Museum]]
| name               = SS.10
| type               = [[Anti-tank missile]]
| origin             = France
| launch_platform    = Individual, Vehicle
| designer           = [[Jean Bastien-Thiry]]
| manufacturer       = [[Nord Aviation]]
| design_date        = 1948–1955
| production_date    = 1955–1962
| service            = 1955–present
| used_by            = See ''[[#Operators|Operators]]''
| diameter           = 0.16 m
| wingspan           = 0.75 m
| length             = 0.86 m
| weight             = 15 kg
| speed              = 80 m/s
| vehicle_range      = 500 to 1600 m
| ceiling            = 
| filling            = 5 kg [[HEAT]]
| detonation         = contact
| engine             = solid-fuel rocket
| steering           = control surfaces
| guidance           = wire
| variants           = 
| number             = 30,000 missiles
}}

The [[Nord Aviation]] '''SS.10''' was a [[MCLOS]] [[Wire-guided missile|wire-guided]] [[anti-tank missile]] designed by the French engineer [[Jean Bastien-Thiry]]. In American service, the missile was called the '''MGM-21A'''. The missile entered service in 1955 with the French Army. It was used briefly by the US Army in the early 1960s. The missile ceased production in January 1962 after approximately 30,000 missiles had been built.

==Development==
Development began in France in 1948, when the Arsenal de l'Aéronautique in Châtillon sous Bagneux began looking at the possibility of developing the German [[X-4 missile#X-7 anti-tank missile|X-7 missile]] further. The missile was designed to be cheap: In 1955, the missile cost 340 Francs and the control box 1,750 Francs. The first rounds were test fired in 1952. Development was completed in 1955 and the missile entered service with the French Army under the designation SS.10 ("Sol-Sol" French for "Surface to Surface").

The US army procured 500 missiles and three sets of launching equipment to evaluate a prototype version of the missile between early 1952 and October 1953, but concluded that the missile was not currently ready for use, but that the continued development should be monitored.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/pdf/shill/shillelagh.pdf|title=Development of the Shillelagh Missile|author=US Army|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625000343/http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/pdf/shill/shillelagh.pdf|archive-date=25 June 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> After development of the missile was completed, the US successfully re-evaluated the missile in mid-1958, and the later [[SS.11]] (also by designer Bastien-Thiry) and Entac missiles were procured for Army use.

==History==
In late 1955, Israel ordered 36 SS.10 launchers. They were received a year later, too late for the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] to use them during the 1956 [[Suez Crisis]]. Subsequently, a self-propelled variant was developed, with four launchers carried by a [[Dodge WC series|Dodge truck]]. In the early 1960s, SS.10 missiles were retired from IDF service, replaced by [[SS.11]].<ref>Granovskiy</ref>

The US Army was interested in the missile from an early stage, but pursued development of their own missile &ndash; the [[SSM-A-23 Dart]]. However, after the Dart was cancelled in 1958, they began to consider procuring SS.10 and SS.11 missiles. In February 1959, the US Army decided to buy the SS.10 as a stopgap measure. The missile was delivered in January 1960 and was phased out in 1963 in favor of the [[MGM-32 Entac]]. The missile received the designation '''MGM-21A'''.

==Description==
In flight, the missile is steered by an unusual arrangement of electrically powered vibrating [[spoiler (aeronautics)|spoilers]], the power for these spoilers is transmitted to the missile along the guidance wires from the operator's station. Since the missile spins in flight, a [[gyroscope]] is needed to determine which spoilers are currently up/down or left/right. Guiding the missile to the target is very demanding and requires a high level of operator skill and concentration. This is typical with [[MCLOS]] guided missiles.

==General characteristics==
* '''Length''': 860&nbsp;mm
* '''Wingspan''': 750&nbsp;mm
* '''Diameter''': 165&nbsp;mm
* '''Launch weight''': 15&nbsp;kg
* '''Speed''': 80&nbsp;m/s
* '''Range''': 500 to 1600 m
* '''Guidance''': [[Wire-guided missile|wire-guided]] [[MCLOS]]
* '''Warhead''': 5&nbsp;kg Hollow-charge 400&nbsp;mm versus [[Rolled homogeneous armour|RHA]]

==Models==
===Prototypes===
* '''Nord-5201''' - Two winged prototype.
* '''Nord-5202''' - Four winged prototype.
* '''Nord-5203''' - Final production version.

===Production versions===
* '''SS.10''' / '''MGM-21A'''

==Operators==
[[File:SS.10 operators.png|thumb|400px|Map with former SS.10 operators in red]]

===Former operators===
*{{flag|France}}
*{{flag|Iran}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php|title=Trade Registers|website=armstrade.sipri.org}}</ref>
*{{flaglist|Israel}}
*{{flag|United States}}

==References==
* [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-21.html Nord SS.10/MGM-21] at Designation-Systems.Net
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051215175233/http://waronline.org/IDF/Articles/firstATGM.htm Oleg Granovskiy, ''First Generation ATGMs in the IDF'' (Олег Грановский - ''ПТУР первого поколения в АОИ'') at Waronline.org] {{in lang|ru}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{Nord aircraft}}
{{US missiles}}

[[Category:Anti-tank guided missiles of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Anti-tank guided missiles of France]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1950s]]
[[Category:Wire-guided missiles]]