The
Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (
ASMP;
medium-range air to surface missile) is a
French air-launched
nuclear missile. Part of the
Force de frappe, in French nuclear doctrine it is 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.
ASMP entered service in 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 IVP was completely retired in 1996.
ASMP is 5.38 m long and weighs 860 kg. It is a
supersonic stand-off missile powered by a liquid-fuel
ramjet. It flies at
Mach 2 to Mach 3, with a range between 80 km and 300 km depending on flight profile.
Warhead is a single
TN 81 with two yield options, 150 and 300
kt of TNT.
An advanced, long-range version of the ASMP, known as
ASMP-A or
ASMP+, is under development, with intended service entry in 2010.
Operators
Photo