Air-Sol Moyenne Portée

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
TypeMedium-Range nuclear air-to-surface missile
Place of originFrance
Service history
In serviceMay 1986[1]
Production history
DesignerAérospatiale
Matra
MBDA
ArianeGroup (ASN4G)
ManufacturerMBDA
ArianeGroup
Specifications
Mass860 kg[2]
Length5.38 m
Diameter380 mm
WarheadTN 81 nuclear warhead, variable yield 100 to 300 kilotons of TNT (420 to 1,260 TJ)
Engineliquid-fuel ramjet
Operational
range
300 km (500+km for ASMP-A version)[3]
Maximum speed up to Mach 3[4]
Mach 4-8 (ASN4G)
Launch
platform
Dassault Mirage IV, Dassault Mirage 2000N, Dassault Rafale, and Dassault Super Étendard

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 Mirage IVP carried the ASMP until retired in 1996.

In 1991, 90 missiles and 80 warheads were reported to have been produced. By 2001, 60 were operational.[5]

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)[6] 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.[7] 54 ASMP-A have been delivered to French air force.[8]

ASMP and ASMP-A 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 for the ASMP and 500 km for the ASMP-A depending on flight profile. The Warhead had a variable-yield of 100 to 300 kilotons of TNT (420 to 1,260 TJ) for the TN 81 for use in the ASMP, and a variable-yield of 100 to 300 kilotons of TNT (420 to 1,260 TJ) for the TNA (Airborne nuclear warhead) for use in the ASMP-A.

  • ASMP-A
  • Back of ASMP-A mock-up

ASN4G

The studies for the successor to the ASMP-A, dubbed ASN4G (air-sol nucléaire de 4e génération), have already begun.[9] The aim is to design a missile capable of either high supersonic (Mach 4-5) or hypersonic speeds (Mach 7-8).[10][11] The ASN4G could be fitted to the Rafale fighter jet and the requirement is for a missile range much greater than 1,000 kilometers.[12][13] ASN4G is being developed by ArianeGroup and is planned to be operational by 2021.[14]

Operators
 France

References
  1. Dickson, David (12 February 1988). "Anglo-French nuclear missile under study". Science. 239 (4841): 720–1. Bibcode:1988Sci...239..720D. doi:10.1126/science.239.4841.720. PMID 17832931. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  2. http://missilethreat.com/missiles/asmp-a/
  3. "French Air Force evaluates ASMPA enhanced stand-off missile". 1 July 2001. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  4. "Cruise missiles". Defence Ministry, France. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. Norris, Robert S.; Arkin, William M.; Kristensen, Hans M.; Handler, Joshua (1 July 2001). "French Nuclear Forces, 2001". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  6. http://www.deagel.com/Land-Attack-Cruise-Missiles/ASMP-A_a001115002.aspx
  7. Robert Hewson, "French ASMP-A missile enters service". Jane's Defence Weekly. July 14, 2010, p. 14.
  8. "French Air Force evaluates ASMPA enhanced stand-off missile" (PDF). 19 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  9. http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/air-force/2015/10/17/onera-explores-mach-8-missile-engine-technology/73928488/
  10. http://www.opex360.com/2014/11/21/lasn4g-sera-le-futur-missile-des-forces-aeriennes-strategiques/
  11. https://www.frstrategie.org/publications/notes/web/documents/2015/201510.pdf
  12. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2017/12/08/former-procurement-official-joins-mbda-as-france-eyes-new-munitions/
  13. http://www.opex360.com/2018/03/08/avion-emporter-futur-missile-nucleaire-hypersonique-forces-aeriennes-strategiques/
  14. "Now France Wants Hypersonic Missiles by 2021 | The National Interest".
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