ENTAC

ENTAC
Cut-away of an early Model 56 ENTAC missile
Type	Anti-tank missile
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1957
Used by	(see below)
Production history
Designed	1950s
Manufacturer	DTAT & Aerospatiale
Produced	1957
No. built	140,000
Specifications
Weight	12.2 kg
Length	820 mm
Diameter	152 mm
Warhead	4 kg Hollow-charge capable of piercing 650 mm of RHA
Detonation mechanism	nose fuse
Engine	combination solid booster and sustainer
Wingspan	375 mm
Operational range	400 m - 2 km
Speed	100 m/s
Guidance system	MCLOS wire
Steering system	trailing edge wing spoilers
Launch platform	individual

External image

DTAT/Aerospatiale ENTAC

Manufacture's Fact Sheet

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

The missile was developed by the French Government agency - DTAT (Direction Technique des Armements Terrestres) at the same time as the private industry SS.10. Development time for the ENTAC was longer than the SS.10, so it did not enter service until 1957. It proved to be a great improvement over the SS.10, which had entered production five years earlier. Once fully developed and tested, production of the ENTAC was given to the firm of Aerospatiale. The ENTAC was designed to be a man-portable weapon or operated from a small vehicle like the Jeep, replacing the Nord SS.10 in French service.

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.

Used from 1964 until 1982.

The missile first entered service in 1957. The ENTAC may have been used by France in small numbers during the 1960s and 1970s on peacekeeping operations.

ENTAC missiles entered service in 1968 after being ordered a year prior. They may have been used against Pakistani tanks during the 1971 war.

Ordered in 1966 and delivered from 1966-1969. It remained in service after the 1979 Iranian revolution and was used against Iraqi tanks during the 1980-88 war.

Entered service in 1963 after being ordered the year before. It is likely that they were used during the 1967 Six-Day War against Arab tanks.

Ordered in 1966 and entered service in 1967. These were deployed during the Lebanon civil war and was used in street fighting, particularly during the early 1980s.