Air-Sol Moyenne Portée

ASMP

Type	medium-range nuclear air-to-surface missile
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	May 1986^[1]
Production history
Manufacturer	Aérospatiale
Specifications
Weight	860 kg^[2]
Length	5.38 m
Diameter	380 mm
Warhead	TN 81 nuclear warhead, 150 kt or 300 kt of TNT (variable yield)

Engine	liquid-fuel ramjet
Operational range	300 km (500+km for ASMP-A version)^[3]
Speed	up to Mach 3
Launch platform	Dassault Mirage IV, Dassault Mirage 2000N, Dassault Rafale, and Dassault Super Étendard

The Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP; medium-range air to surface missile) is a French nuclear air-launched cruise missile. In French nuclear doctrine it is called a "pre-strategic" weapon, the last-resort "warning shot" prior to a full-scale employment of strategic nuclear weapons. The missile's construction was contracted to Aérospatiale's Tactical Missile Division, now part of MBDA. The missile cost $600 million to develop.^[1]

ASMP entered service in May 1986, replacing the earlier free-fall AN-22 bomb on France's Dassault Mirage IV aircraft and the AN-52 bomb on Dassault Super Étendard. About 84 weapons are stockpiled. Carrier aircraft are the Dassault Mirage 2000N, Rafale, and Super Étendard; the earlier Mirage IVA was retired in 1996, although Mirage IVP photo reconnaissance aircraft continued in French Air Force service until 2005.

ASMPA is 5.38 m long and weighs 860 kg. It is a supersonic standoff missile powered by a liquid fuel ramjet. It flies at Mach 2 to Mach 3, with a range between 80 km and 300 km (ASMP)/ 500 km (ASMPA) depending on flight profile. Warhead was a single 300 kt of TNT TN 81 for ASMP, and a single 300 kt of TNT Airborne Nuclear Warhead (TNA).

In 1991, 90 missiles and 80 warheads were reported to have been produced. By 2001, 60 were operational.^[4]

ASMP-A

An advanced version known as Air-Sol Moyenne Portée-Amélioré ASMP-A (improved ASMP) has a range of about 500 kilometres (310 mi)^[5] at a speed of up to Mach 3 with the new TNA (tête nucléaire aéroportée) 300kt thermonuclear warhead.^[3] It entered service in October 2009 with the Mirage 2000NK3 of squadron EC 3/4 at Istres and on July 2010 with the Rafales of squadron EC 1/91 at Saint Dizier.^[6]

ASMP-A
Back of ASMP-A mock-up

ASN4G

The studies for the successor to the ASMP-A, dubbed ASN4G, have already begun. ASN4G refers to air-sol nucléaire fourth-generation.^[7] The aim is to design a missile capable of either high supersonic (Mach 4-5) or hypersonic speeds (Mach 7-8)^[8]^[9]

Operators

France

References

1 2 Dickson, David (12 February 1988). "Anglo-French nuclear missile under study". Science. Retrieved 22 August 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
↑ http://missilethreat.com/missiles/asmp-a/
1 2 "French Air Force evaluates ASMPA enhanced stand-off missile". 1 July 2001. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
↑ Norris, Robert S.; Arkin, William M.; Kristensen, Hans M.; Handler, Joshua (1 July 2001). "French Nuclear Forces, 2001". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 23 June 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
↑ http://www.deagel.com/Land-Attack-Cruise-Missiles/ASMP-A_a001115002.aspx
↑ Robert Hewson, "French ASMP-A missile enters service". Jane's Defence Weekly. July 14, 2010, p. 14.
↑ http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/air-force/2015/10/17/onera-explores-mach-8-missile-engine-technology/73928488/
↑ http://www.opex360.com/2014/11/21/lasn4g-sera-le-futur-missile-des-forces-aeriennes-strategiques/
↑ https://www.frstrategie.org/publications/notes/web/documents/2015/201510.pdf

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ASMP.

French nuclear armament

Strategic missiles	missile M1 missile M2 missile M20 missile S1 missile S2 missile S3 missile M4 missile M45 missile M5 missile M51

Pre-strategic missiles	Pluton Hadès ASMP

Nuclear warheads	AN-11 bomb AN-22 bomb AN-52 bomb MR 31 MR 41 MR 50 CTC AN 51 CTC AN 52 CTC TN 60 TN 61 TN 70 TN 71 TN 75 TN 76 TN 80 TN 81 TN 90 TNA TNO

Related subjects	French nuclear deterrence FAS FOST France and weapons of mass destruction

Types of missile

By platform	Air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) Air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) Air-to-air missile (AAM) Air-to-surface missile (ASM) Ballistic missile Cruise missile Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) Shoulder-fired missile Submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) Submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) Surface-to-air missile (SAM) Surface-to-surface missile (SSM)

By target type	Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) Anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) Anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) Anti-ship missile (AShM) Anti-submarine missile Anti-tank missile (ATGM) Land-attack missile (LACM)

By guidance	Active radar guidance Semi-active radar guidance Passive homing Track-via-missile Anti-radiation Command to line-of-sight guidance Command off line-of-sight guidance Pursuit guidance Beam riding Infrared guidance Laser guidance Unguided rockets Wire guidance TERCOM DSMAC Inertial guidance Astro-inertial guidance Satellite guidance Compass

Lists	List of military rockets List of missiles List of missiles by country List of anti-ship missiles List of anti-tank missiles List of ICBMs List of surface-to-air missiles

See also: Sounding rocket

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