Air-Sol Moyenne Portée

ASMP
Type	medium-range air to surface nuclear missile
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1986
Production history
Manufacturer	Aérospatiale
Specifications
Weight	860 kg
Length	5.38 m
Diameter	300 mm
Warhead	TN 81 nuclear warhead, 150 kt or 300 kt of TNT (variable yield)
Engine	liquid-fuel ramjet
Operational range	between 80 km and 300 km
Speed	Mach 2 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 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 version known as ASMP-A has a range of about 500 km at a speed of up to Mach 3 with the new TNA (tête nucléaire aéroportée) 300kt thermonuclear warhead. 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.^[1]

Photo

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  ASMP-A

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  Back of ASMP-A mock-up

References

External links

• ASMP on FAS.org
• L’ASMP-A, nouvelle arme de la dissuasion, Ministére de la Defense