ENTAC

Entac (ENgin Téléguidé Anti-Char) or MGM-32A was a French MCLOS wire-guided Anti-tank missile. Developed in the early 1950s, the missile entered service with the French army in 1957. Production ended in 1974 after approximately 140,000 missiles had been built.

Development

The missile was developed by the French Government agency - DTAT (Direction Technique des Armements Terrestres) and produced by Nord Aviation. The ENTAC was designed to be a man portable weapon.

History

The US army purchased the Entac to replace another French missile, the SS.10. The first missiles where deployed in 1963, that year the missile received the US designation MGM-32A. In US service the missile was based on the M151 Jeep. The missile was phased out between 1968 and 1969, being replaced with the more advanced BGM-71 TOW. It was used in the Vietnam War.

Description

The missile is launched from a simple metal box, which is connected to an operator station. An individual operator station can control up to 10 launcher boxes. The operator manually steers the missile by means of a small joystick. These course corrections are transmitted to the missile via a thin set of wires that trail behind the missile - see MCLOS. Like many early ATGMs the missile had a large minimum range (see AT-3 Sagger) due to the time it took to get up to flight speed and come under operator control.

Models

• ENATC / MGM-32A

Users

France, Lebanon, Norway, South Africa, United States, Canada

External links

• astronautix.com
• redstone.army.mil