LaCrosse
Accurate nuclear artillery Missile
Weapon Specifications
Note that the relationship between explosive power and destruction is not linear—a weapon’s destructive effects grow far more slowly than its explosive power.
Explosive Power
1.5 to 10 kt.
Hiroshima Equivalent Factor
Up to 0.65x
Dimensions
19 ft. 2.4 inches x 20.5 inches
Weight
2300 lbs.
Range
12 miles, Mach 0.8
Year(s)
1959–1964
Purpose
Radar-guided short-range missile artillery
NukeMap
Simulated destruction of a LaCrosse missile at the Ft. Sill Artillery Park, in Oklahoma. Click on the map to change parameters.
Videos
These curated videos provide additional context for this weapon — showing test footage, deployment scenes, technical explanations, interviews, or other historical material, allowing viewers to go deeper into the weapon’s design, use, and place in nuclear history.
Further Reading
- Wikipedia, AMCOM, Designation Systems
- Far and away the best source for information on the LaCrosse seems to be “History of the Lacrosse Guided Missile System, 1947-1962,” by Cagle–most of the Wikipedia links, for example, refer to Cagle’s work. I have looked but have not yet been able to obtain a copy.
- A section of “Missiles at the Cape: Missile Systems on Display at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida,” published by the US Corps of Army Engineers in 2001 discusses the LaCrosse.
- Scale model builders are serious about their craft. Indeed, many museums have extensive model collections. Here are one, two, and three (of many more) pages showing off their efforts.
- A postcard of a LaCrosse by the Anderson News Company, Florence, Alabama.