SS.11

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SS.11 mounted on a UH-1B

Description

The SS.11 missile (scale is approximate)


The SS.11 (SS = French: sol-sol or surface to surface), also known as the AS.11 (air-sol) for aircraft-mounted variants, is a manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) wire-guided anti-tank missile developed by French aviation manufacture Nord Aviation. It also served in other Armed Forces in which it received a different name: AGM-22 in the USA, RB 52 for Sweden, and Tagar for Israel.

Developed in the early 1950s, the SS.11 began production in 1956 and was fielded in the French military. Initially launched from ground vehicles, the French found success in launching these surface-to-surface missiles from fixed-wing aircraft during the Algerian war (1958-1662) in an air-to-ground application. The French went further to adapt this missile to also be fired from a helicopter platform. The Alouette II was the first helicopter outfitted with the SS.11 and was instantly successful at exploiting this weapon. The Alouette had the ability to work its way to a target which could not be duplicated with fixed-wing aircraft and became a force multiplier with much success in so that when Alouette III helicopters began production, they were already configured to accept the SS.11 as one of the many armaments available for use.

Being classified as an MCLOS, the SS.11 is not a fire-and-forget type missile which will home into a target on its own, on the other hand, it requires a missile operator to "fly" the missile to its target. The missile is connected to the firing vehicle throughout its flight by a series of very thin wires. Communications conducted through the wires allowed the missile operator to guide the flying missile to its target allowing some movement around barriers and obstacles if needed. If the target was outside of the range of the total length of wires, the wires would disconnect and the missile would become an unguided rocket until it either hit its target or crashed into another object or ran out of fuel and crashed.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

Vehicles equipped with this weapon
Helicopters 
USA  UH-1B · UH-1C
Germany  ◄SA 313B Alouette II · ◄UH-1D
Britain  Scout AH.Mk.1 · Wasp HAS.Mk.1
France  ▄H-34 · SA 313B Alouette II · SA 316B Alouette III
Sweden  HKP2
Ground vehicles  RakJPz 2 · ▄Strv 81 (RB 52) · AMX-13 (SS.11) · Strv 81 (RB 52) · Zachlam Tager

General info

Missile characteristics
Calibre 164 mm
Mass 29.99 kg
Guidance Manual (MCLOS)
Maximum speed 220 m/s
Missile guidance time 18.5 secs
Firing range 3.5 km
Guaranteed launch range 3 km
Explosive mass 2 kg TNTeq
Fuse delay 0.05 m
Fuse sensitivity 0.1 mm
Armour penetration 600 mm

Effective damage

Describe the type of damage produced by this type of missile (high explosive, splash damage, etc)

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of missiles that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

Describe situations when you would utilise this missile in-game (vehicle, pillbox, base, etc)

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Wire-guided, allows the operator to guide the missile to the target even potentially "hidden" targets

Cons:

  • Limited length of wire, can disconnect and become uncontrollable
  • Difficult to use in close, best for targets 500 m away or more

History

AGM-22

In the late 1950s, the United States military cancelled its evaluation of the SSM-A-23 Dart anti-tank missile and evaluated the proven SS.11 MCLOS anti-tank missile. Upon accepting the French missile into service, the US military changed the designation from SS.11 to AGM-22 (AGM = Air to Ground Missile). The missiles were immediately outfitted to UH-1B helicopters and crews from special units were trained in anti-tank combat tactics. During the Vietnam Conflict, these units were deployed and saw success against armoured targets with the usage of the AGM-22 missiles.

While engaged in the Vietnam Conflict, the U.S. Army in 1966 outfitted their first UH-1B helicopters to carry six of the French-designed SS-11 surface-to-surface missiles mounted on M-22 hardpoints and turned into air-to-ground missiles. The missile was far from a fire-and-forget weapon, due to the fact it required a gunner to track the missile once it was fired all the way to its target. The missile was tracked by a flare lit in the tail of the missile and the gunner would make course adjustments with a joystick to the missile while in flight. The downside to utilising this missile was that it required skilled gunners and a steady platform, difficulties hard to overcome in a battle situation where a hovering helicopter was an easy target. Due to these challenges, the AGM-22 was an unpopular weapon with the helicopter operators and in comparison to the later adopted TOW anti-tank missiles, the -22s were highly inaccurate.[1]

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

  • reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
  • references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

References

  1. McGowen, Stanley S., Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact (Weapons and Warfare), (2005), ABC-CLIO Publishing, ISBN: 1851094687, p. 351


Missiles
USA 
AAM  AIM-54A Phoenix · AIM-54C Phoenix · ATAS (AIM-92)
Sparrow  AIM-7C · AIM-7D · AIM-7E · AIM-7E-2 · AIM-7F · AIM-7M
Sidewinder  AIM-9B · AIM-9C · AIM-9D · AIM-9E · AIM-9G · AIM-9H · AIM-9J · AIM-9L · AIM-9M · AIM-9P
AGM  AGM-22 · APKWS II (M151) · APKWS II (M282) · BGM-71D TOW-2
Bullpup  AGM-12B Bullpup · AGM-12C Bullpup
Hellfire  AGM-114B Hellfire · AGM-114K Hellfire II
Maverick  AGM-65A · AGM-65B · AGM-65D
ATGM  LOSAT/MGM-166A
TOW  BGM-71 · BGM-71A · BGM-71B · BGM-71C
SAM  FIM-92 Stinger · MIM-72 · MIM146
Naval SAM  RIM-24A
Germany 
AAM  AIM-9B FGW.2 Sidewinder · Flz Lwf 63/80
AGM  9M14M Malyutka · Flz Lwf LB 82 · HOT-1 · HOT-2 TOW · HOT-3 · PARS 3 LR
AShM  AS.34 Kormoran
ATGM  HOT-K3S
SAM  Roland
USSR 
AAM  9M39 Igla · R-3R · R-3S · R-13M1 · R-23R · R-23T · R-24R · R-24T · R-27ER(1) · R-27ET(1) · R-27R(1) · R-27T(1) · R-60 · R-60M · R-60MK · R-73(E)
AGM  9K127 Vikhr · 9M17M Falanga · 9M120 Ataka · 9M120-1 Ataka
  Kh-23M · Kh-25 · Kh-25ML · Kh-29L · Kh-29T · Kh-29TE · Kh-29TD · Kh-66 · S-25L
ATGM  3M7 · 9M14 · 9M113 Konkurs · 9M114 Shturm · 9M123 Khrizantema · 9M133 · 9M133FM3 · 9M133M-2
SAM  95Ya6 · 9M311 · 9M311-1M · 9M331 · 9M37M
Naval SAM  Volna-M
Britain 
AAM  Fireflash · Firestreak · Red Top · Skyflash · Skyflash SuperTEMP · SRAAM
AGM  AS.12 · ZT-6 Mokopa
ATGM  BAe Swingfire · MILAN · MILAN 2 · ZT3
SAM  Starstreak
Japan 
AAM  AAM-3
AGM  Ki-148 I-Go Model 1B
ATGM  Type 64 MAT · Type 79 Jyu-MAT
SAM  Type 81 SAM-1C · Type 91
China 
AAM  PL-2 · PL-5B · PL-5C · PL-7 · PL-8 · TY-90
AGM  AKD-9 · AKD-10 · HJ-8A · HJ-8C · HJ-8E · HJ-8H
ATGM  302 · HJ-73 · HJ-73E · HJ-9 · QN201DD · QN502CDD
SAM  HN-6
Italy 
AAM  Aspide-1A
AGM  CIRIT · L-UMTAS · Spike ER
ATGM  Spike-LR2MR
Naval AShM  Nettuno
SAM  Mistral SATCP
France 
AAM  AA-20 Nord · Matra R511 · Matra R530 · Matra R530E · Matra Super 530D · Matra Super 530F · Matra R550 Magic 1 · Matra R550 Magic 2 · Mistral
AGM  9M14-2 Malyutka-2 · AS-20 Nord · AS-30 Nord · AS-30L Nord · HOT-1 · HOT-2 TOW · HOT-3 · Spike ER
ATGM  HOT · SS.11
SAM  Roland · VT1
Sweden 
AAM  RB24 · RB24J · RB71 · RB 74 · RB 74(M)
AGM  Rb05A · RB 53 Bantam · RB 55B Heli TOW · RB 55C Heli TOW · RB 75
ATGM  Rbs 55 · Rbs 56
SAM  Rbs 70
Israel 
AAM  Shafrir · Shafrir 2 · Python 3
ATGM  Spike-MR
  AAM = Air-to-Air Missile   AGM = Air-to-Ground Missile   AShM = Anti-Ship Missile   ATGM = Anti-Tank Guided Missile (Ground mounts)   SAM = Surface-to-Air Missile