MGM-18 Lacrosse

The MGM-18 Lacrosse was a short-range, nuclear-capable tactical surface-to-surface missile built to give ground troops close support. The project began in 1947 as a Marine Corps requirement for an accurate guided missile to supplement field artillery. The Navy Bureau of Ordnance contracted the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, and in 1950 the work passed to the Army Ordnance Corps. A forward observer with a direct view of the target took over final guidance, which gave the system its name. The Glenn L. Martin Company joined development and production in 1955. First flown in test in 1954, it entered United States Army service in 1959 despite unresolved problems, notably vulnerability of its guidance to electronic jamming, and was withdrawn from field service by 1964 after about 1,200 had been built. It was designated SSM-N-9, SSM-G-12 and SSM-A-12 before M-4 and MGM-18A.