MGM-29 Sergeant

The MGM-29 Sergeant was a short-range, surface-to-surface missile fielded by the United States Army to replace the MGM-5 Corporal. Its solid-propellant motor and inertial guidance made it far quicker to prepare than its predecessor, since a small crew could set it up and fire it in about 90 minutes, against about 9 hours for the Corporal. Because the motor could not be shut off once lit, the guidance system controlled range by activating drag brakes about halfway through the planned flight and working the rudders on the stabilizing fins. The missile could carry a conventional high-explosive warhead or a thermonuclear W-52 warhead, was roughly 35 to 36 feet long and 31 inches across, and reached about 75 to 84 miles. The Army formally started the project on 1 January 1955 under Redstone Arsenal, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as prime research contractor and Sperry Gyroscope as co-contractor. The Sergeant was first deployed in June 1962, began to be replaced by the MGM-52 Lance in July 1969, and its last battalion left Army service in May 1977.