View source for MGM-29 Sergeant

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = MGM-29 Sergeant
| image              = Sergeant missile.jpg
| image_size         = 250
| caption            = Launch of a MGM-29
| origin             = United States
| type               = [[Tactical ballistic missile]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged          =
| is_bladed          =
| is_explosive       = yes
| is_artillery       =
| is_vehicle         =
| is_missile         = yes
| is_UK              =
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1962–1979
| used_by            = [[United States Army]]<br />[[German Army]]
| wars               =
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]
| design_date        = 1955
| manufacturer       = [[Sperry Corporation|Sperry Utah]]
| unit_cost          =
| production_date    =
| number             = ~500
| variants           =
<!-- General specifications -->
| spec_label         =
| weight             = {{convert|10100|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
| length             = {{convert|34|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
| part_length        =
| width              =
| height             =
| diameter           = {{convert|31|in|cm|abbr=on}}
| crew               =
| passengers         =
<!-- Explosive specifications -->
| filling            = [[W52 (nuclear warhead)|W52]] (M65) nuclear
| filling_weight     =
| detonation         =
| yield              = {{convert|200|ktonTNT}}
<!-- Vehicle/missile specifications -->
| engine             = 	Thiokol XM100
| engine_power       = {{convert|200|kN|lbf|abbr=on}}
| fuel_capacity      =
| vehicle_range      = {{convert|75|nmi|km|abbr=on}}
| speed              =
| guidance           = Inertial
| steering           =
<!-- Missiles only -->
| wingspan           =
| propellant         = Solid fuel
| ceiling            =
| altitude           =
| depth              =
| boost              = 34 sec
| accuracy           =
| launch_platform    =
| transport          =
}}

The '''MGM-29 Sergeant''' was an American short-range, [[solid rocket|solid fuel]], [[surface-to-surface missile]] developed by the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]. The missiles were built by Sperry Utah Company. The Sergeant was the third and last in a series of JPL rockets for the US Army whose names correspond to the progression in Army enlisted ranks, starting with Private and Corporal.

The Sergeant missile was first fired by an operational field artillery unit at White Sands New Mexico by the 3rd Battalion 38th Artillery station at Fort Sill Oklahoma in the summer of 1962. President John F. Kennedy attended the fire power demonstration at White Sands New Mexico.

==Development==
The Sergeant was originated during 1948 at JPL. Due to the large workload of the Corporal program rocket motor development for the Sergeant was transferred to the Redstone Division of the Thiokol Corporation.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  11, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> Due to the failure of the Sergeant program to develop rapidly the early Sergeant was terminated in April 1951.<ref name="auto">Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  15, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> Another Army missile program, the Hermes program had developed the Hermes A2 another solid fueled missile.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  14, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> The Hermes RV-A-10 (A2) was successful but not pursued with the motor serving as the inspiration for future solid rocket motors.<ref name="auto"/> JPL cautioned against making Sergeant a "crash" program as with Corporal.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  32, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref>

Sergeant missile development began January 1955.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  36, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> There were three basic steps planned: feasibility demonstration in 1955–1957, experimental development in 1958 and 1959, followed by final engineering in 1960 and 1961.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  97, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> The rocket motor was designed by JPL and built by Thiokol. Picatinny Arsenal was to supply the warhead and adapter.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  113-117, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> Ground Support equipment and vehicles were to be the responsibility of JPL.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  120, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> By fall 1956 it was decided to defer procurement of  the Corporal III to development of the much more practical Sergeant.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  130, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> Flight tests began in early 1956 resulting in significant design changes,<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  109-111, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref>  By July 1961 the Sergeant weapon system had numerous deficiencies including check out, repair ease, standby readiness, reliability and low temperature storage limits. Sergeant was to be ready on time but fell miserably short of meeting the goal of being the weapon originally envisioned.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  199, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> When compared to its predecessor, the Sergeant required less than {{percentage|1|3}} of the ground support equipment, and could be fired within minutes rather than hours after arriving at the firing location. Sergeant was relatively simple to operate and maintain.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  202, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref>  The Sergeant was to carry the [[W52 (nuclear warhead)|W52]] (M65) nuclear warhead.<ref>Hansen, Chuck, “The Swords of Armageddon U.S. Nuclear Weapons Development since 1945,” Volume VII, p 125-126, 1995</ref> The Sergeant had been considered for deployment with high explosive, fragmentation, biological and chemical warheads. A biological warhead, the [[M210 (warhead)|M210]] and a chemical warhead, the [[M212 (warhead)|M212]] were approved but never procured.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  234, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref>

==In service==
[[File:Weapons of the Field Artillery (1966).webm|thumb|''"Weapons of the Field Artillery"'' (1966).]]
Activated by the US Army in 1962 to replace the [[MGM-5 Corporal]], it was deployed in Europe and South Korea by 1963, and to German units by 1964.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  216, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref>

The Sergeant weapon system  was to be replaced by the [[MGM-52 Lance]] in the early 1970s but delays in the Lance caused it to remain in service.<ref>Cagle, Mary T., History of the Sergeant Weapon System, p  244, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 1972</ref> The last US Army battalion was deactivated in 1977.<ref>{{Cite Q |Q107604474| last1 = Kennedy | first1 = Gregory P.}}</ref> Sergeant Missile Systems were usually assigned to the [[field army]] with the mission of "general support to a [[corps]]."<ref>{{cite web|title=Weapons of the Field Artillery (1965)| date=30 August 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o1MloQoRAQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/7o1MloQoRAQ| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|publisher=US Army|access-date=11 May 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Operation of the Sergeant was recognized to be an interim stage in the development of battlefield missiles. It avoided the Corporal's liquid-fuel-handling drawbacks, but still requiring extensive setup and checkout before launch, together with a train of semi-trailer support vehicles.<ref name="Flight, Sergeant electrodynamics" >{{Cite journal
  |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%201146.html
  |title=Sergeant electrodynamics
  |journal=[[Flight (magazine)|Flight]]
  |date=23 April 1964
  |pages=643–644
}}</ref> More advanced missiles, such as the contemporary [[Blue Water (missile)|Blue Water]] and later [[MGM-52 Lance|Lance]], would reduce setup time.

The Sergeant had a takeoff thrust of {{convert|200|kN}}, a takeoff weight of {{convert|4530|kg}}, a diameter of {{convert|790|mm}}, a length of {{convert|10.52|m}} and a fin span of {{convert|1.80|m}}. The Sergeant missile had a minimum range of {{convert|25|mi|order=flip}}, and a maximum range of {{convert|84|mi|order=flip}}.
[[Thiokol]] developed the Sergeant rocket motors, and the Castor rocket stages derived from them, at the [[Redstone Arsenal]] near [[Huntsville, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxelder.org/tourism/visitor/thiokol/ |title=Thiokol |publisher=Box Elder County, Utah |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406191826/http://www.boxelder.org/tourism/visitor/thiokol/ |archive-date=6 April 2009 }}</ref>

===Derivatives===

The [[Castor (rocket stage)|Castor]] rocket stage, a Sergeant derivative, was used as the second stage of the [[Scout (rocket)|Scout]] satellite launcher. Clusters of Sergeant-derived rockets (the "Baby Sergeant") were used in the second and third stages of the [[Jupiter-C]] [[sounding rocket]], as well as in the second, third, and fourth stages of the [[Juno I]] and [[Juno II]] [[launch vehicle]]s, the former of which launched the first United States [[satellite]], [[Explorer 1]].

==Operators==
'''{{flag|West Germany}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/FieldArtillery/Org%20Charts_Sergeant%201.htm|title=USAREUR Charts - SERGEANT Missile}}</ref>'''
'''[[German Army]]'''
*150th Rocket Artillery Battalion (1964{{hyphen}}1976)
*250th Rocket Artillery Battalion (1964{{hyphen}}1976)
*350th Rocket Artillery Battalion (1964{{hyphen}}1976)
*650th Rocket Artillery Battalion (1965{{hyphen}}1976)

'''{{USA}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/FieldArtillery/Org%20Charts_Sergeant.htm|title=USAREUR Charts - SERGEANT Missile}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=Field Artillery - Part 2 | url=https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_71903.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250615171150/https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_71903.pdf | archive-date=2025-06-15}}</ref>'''
'''[[United States Army]]'''
*5th Battalion, [[30th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)|30th Field Artillery Regiment]] 1963{{hyphen}}1972 {{hyphen}} Vicenza, Italy
*3rd Battalion, [[38th Field Artillery Regiment]] (1962{{hyphen}}1974) {{hyphen}} Fort Sill
*1st Battalion, [[68th Field Artillery Regiment]] (1964{{hyphen}}1970) {{hyphen}} West Germany
*5th Battalion, [[73rd Field Artillery Regiment]] (1963{{hyphen}}1973) {{hyphen}} West Germany
*5th Battalion, [[77th Field Artillery Regiment]] (1963{{hyphen}}1973) {{hyphen}} West Germany
*3rd Battalion, [[80th Field Artillery Regiment]] (1964{{hyphen}}1970) {{hyphen}} West Germany
*3rd Battalion, [[81st Field Artillery Regiment]] (1963{{hyphen}}1977)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve12/d289|title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–12, Documents on East and Southeast Asia, 1973–1976 - Office of the Historian|website=history.state.gov}}</ref> {{hyphen}} South Korea

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=

}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin |30em |indent=yes }}
*{{Book-Hansen-Swords of Armageddon|author-mask=1}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050209212910/http://astronautix.com/lvs/sergeant.htm Sergeant]
* [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app1/ssm-a-16.html General Electric SSM-A-16 Hermes A-3B]
* [https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-sergeant.html The United States Army | Redstone Arsenal Historical Information]

{{Rank rockets}}
{{USA missiles}}
{{US missiles}}

[[Category:Cold War nuclear missiles of the United States]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]]
[[Category:Tactical ballistic missiles of the United States|MGM-029]]