Mark 10 missile launcher

The Mark 10 was used in the US Navy on Belknap class and Leahy class cruisers (including the derived USS Truxtun and USS Bainbridge), as well as on Farragut-class destroyers, USS Long Beach and the pre-refit USS Kitty Hawk. It was also exported to the Marina Militare for use aboard Andrea Doria class and Vittorio Veneto class helicopter cruisers.

Ammunition was stored in horizontal 20-round ring magazines. When preparing to fire, the magazine rotated to the selected missile, which was then raised by a hoist to an assembly area above the magazine, where the vacuum tube electronics were warmed up, and stabilizing fins were attached. Afterwards, the missile was connected to an overhead loader rail, to be transferred via an extendable "spanning rail" through a set of blast doors onto the appropriate launcher rail. The assembly area required six men per launcher rail to perform the assembly work.

Most ships were equipped with two magazines side-by-side (for a total of 40 missiles), with each servicing one arm. However, the Mod 2 subvariant on the Long Beach added two more magazine rings underneath the main ones for auxiliary stowage (each unloading into the ring above it), for a total of 80 missiles. The Mod 7 on the Belknap, and Mod 8 on the Truxtun added a single extra ring centered between and under the two main ones (unloading its missiles into both of the other two rings), and also added the capability of loading and firing the RUR-5 ASROC from even-numbered positions on the two upper rings using a special adapter rail. Mod 2, Mod 7 and Mod 8 also all lowered their missile assembly areas below deck, resulting in a tilting rail system being required for missile transfer. The other subvariants only differed in ship-specific adaptations, as well as whether they were built to be placed facing fore or aft.

• Farragut-class destroyer (1 launcher, Mod 0)
• Long Beach-class cruiser (2 launchers, Mod 2)
• Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier pre-refit (2 launchers, Mod 3 and Mod 4)
• Leahy-class cruiser (2 launchers, Mod 5 and Mod 6)
• Bainbridge-class cruiser (2 launchers, Mod 5 and Mod 6)
• Belknap-class cruiser (1 launcher, Mod 7)
• Truxtun-class cruiser (1 launcher, Mod 8)
• Andrea Doria-class cruiser
• Vittorio Veneto-class cruiser

A similar system to the Mark 10 was the Mark 9 guided missile launching system, used on Providence-class cruisers for the RIM-2 Terrier. It used the same launcher rails and aiming systems but differed in that all missiles were stored behind the launcher above main deck inside of an approximately 127 ft (39 m) long armored magazine. This magazine consisted, front to back, of a 60-round storage area, a transfer area moving missiles onto a pair of overhead transfer rails, a second storage area similar to the first, and a pair of side-by-side checkout areas nearest to the launcher (each for one of the launcher's rails), with the missiles exiting through blast doors at the rear. The missiles – a total of 120 – were stored each in its own cell in a partially assembled state with the first and second stages connected together, and wings and fins being added at checkout.

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  USS Truxtun (CGN-35) launching a missile from her Mark 10 Mod 8 launcher
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  A Mark 10 Mod 5 launcher aboard the Leahy-class cruiser USS Worden (CG-18)
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  A Terrier missile being fired from the Mark 10 Mod 2 launcher of USS Long Beach (CGN-9)
• 
  Aft view of USS Leahy underway at sea, showing her Mark 10 launcher
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  Stern of USS King, with her Mark 10 launcher
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  USS Providence (CLG-6) underway, with her Mark 9 launcher visible at the stern

• List of United States Navy Guided Missile Launching Systems

"GMM 1 and C CHAPTER 3 Missile Launching Systems" (PDF). via okieboat.com. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
"GMM 3 and 2 CHAPTER 5 Missile Launching Systems" (PDF). via okieboat.com. Retrieved 17 April 2026.

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