MGM-51 Shillelagh

MGM-51 Shillelagh
MGM-51 Shillelagh
Type	Surface-to-surface missile
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Manufacturer	Aeronutronic, Martin Marietta
Unit cost	from $1938 to $4052[1]
Produced	88,194 from 1964 to 1971[1]
Specifications
Mass	MGM-51A: 59.1 lb (26.8 kg) MGM-51B/C:61.3 lb (27.8 kg)
Length	MGM-51A: 3 feet 7.7 inches (1.110 m) MGM-51B/C: 3 feet 9.4 inches (1.153 m)
Diameter	6 inches (150 mm)
Wingspan	11.5 inches (290 mm)
Warhead	15 pounds (6.8 kg) Shaped Charge Warhead including 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of Octol Explosive able to defeat 23.62 inches (600 mm) of RHA at 0° obliquity[2]
Detonation mechanism	detonated on impact[3]
Engine	Amoco Chemicals Hercules solid-fuel rocket
Operational range	MGM-51A: 6,600 ft (2,000 m) MGM-51B/C: 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Maximum speed	1,060 feet per second (320 m/s)[4]
Guidance system	Infra-red signal link
Launch platform	Tank (M551 Sheridan, MBT/KPz-70, and M60A2)

The Ford MGM-51 Shillelagh was an American anti-tank guided missile designed to be launched from a conventional gun (cannon). It was originally intended to be the medium-range portion of a short, medium, and long-range system for armored fighting vehicles in the 1960s and '70s to defeat future armor without an excessively large gun. Developing a system that could fire both shells and missiles reliably proved complex and largely unworkable for the United States.

It was originally developed for the experimental but never produced MBT-70 tank and served most notably as a primary weapon of the M551 Sheridan light tank, but the missile system was not issued to units serving in South Vietnam and was retired in 1996. It was also used on the M60A2 "Starship", which was phased out by 1981. Ultimately, very few of the 88,000 rounds produced were ever fired in combat, and the system was largely succeeded by the later BGM-71 TOW wire-guided missile, which was first produced in 1970. Western forces largely gave up on the gun-launched missile concept, although it remains in use on former Soviet Union designs.

The name of the system is that of a traditional wooden club from Ireland.