Home : French Nuclear Weapons Program
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AN-11 The AN-11 was the first nuclear weapon developed and stockpiled by France. The warhead was a pure fission plutonium implosion design. A developmental version of the weapon was fired in France’s first nuclear test, Gerboise Bleue. A prototype version was fired on May 1, 1962. The weapon entered service in 1963 and was deployed on France’s first strategic nuclear bomber, the Mirage-IVA. The bomb weighed 1500 kilograms and had a nominal yield of 60 kilotons. Full scale production of the weapon continued until November 1968. A total of 40 AN-11 bombs were built before being replaced by the AN-22. Replacement began in 1967. 
AN-22 The AN-22 was similar to the AN-11 in many respects; however, it featured improved safety features. Like the AN-11, it was a pure plutonium implosion design, weighed 1400-1500 kilograms, had a nominal yield of 60-70 kilotons, and was a free-fall bomb deployed on the Mirage-IVA. It entered service in 1967 and remained in the French nuclear stockpile until 1988. Later modifications reduced the weight by half and added parachute retarding capabilities for low-level bombing.
AN-52 The AN-52 was France’s first tactical nuclear weapon. Like the AN-51, it was based on the MR-50 warhead design. It was a low-yield parachute retarded bomb deployed on the Mirage IIIA and Jaguar A for the French Air Force, and on the Super Etendard for naval aviation. It was stockpiled from October 1972 to September 199. Two versions of the bomb were produced. One version was a low-yield 6-8 kiloton weapon; the other version had a yield of 25 kilotons. 80 to 100 AN-52 bombs were produced.
MR-31 The MR-31 was a pure fission plutonium warhead that had a nominal yield of 120 kilotons. It entered the French stockpile in 1970 and remained in stockpiled until June 1980. The 700 kilogram warhead was hardened against pre-detonation effects. It was deployed on the SSBS S2 IRBM, and entered operational service with the first nine S2s in August 1971. In April 1972, the remaining nine S2’s were deployed with the warhead. MR-41 The MR-41 was the first boosted fission weapon France stockpiled and also France’s most powerful non-thermonuclear warhead. It was stockpiled from 1971 to 1979 and armed the MSBS M1 and M2 SLBMs. The initial development of the MR-41 began in 1963, and later continued from 1966 to 1971. The weapon used deuterium and tritium to boost the highly enriched uranium. The bomb weighed 700 kilograms, a relatively light weight for similar designs. The nominal yield of the warhead was 500 kilotons. The MR-41 went into operation service on the first patrol of the Le Redoubtable on 28 January 1972. 35 MR-41 warheads were built before being replaced by the TN-60 in 1977 to 1979. AN-51 The AN-51 CTC (Charge Tactique Commune) warhead was based on a pure plutonium fission warhead design called the MR-50 CTC. The AN-51 was part of the tactical section of the French nuclear deterence and was deployed on the Pluton short-range nuclear ballistic missile. It entered service on March 1, 1974. Manufacturing of the warhead continued until 1977; a total of 70 were built. It was decommissioned in 1993. Two versions of the warhead were built. One was a 10 kiloton version and the other was a higher-yielding 25 kiloton version. The warhead weighed 500 kilograms. 
TN-60/61 The TN-60 was the first thermonuclear warhead developed by France. The TN-60 was a highly sophisticated warhead compared to U.S. warheads, and needed 21 nuclear tests spread over 8 years during the developmental process. The TN-60 entered service in 1977 but was quickly replaced a few months later by the TN-61. The TN-61 warhead weighed less and thus featured penetration aids on the re-entry vehicle. A total of 64 warheads were built to arm four submarines at the time. A maximum of 70 warheads were in the stockpile at any given time. The TN-61 was removed from service in 1991. The TN-61 was also deployed on the SSBS S3 missile based in silos on the Plateau d'Albion. The first of these missiles went operation in 1980, and another set became operation on January 1, 1983. 20 TN-61 were built for land based deployment. 18 were operational and two were backups. The TN-61 was retired from service in 1996 with the deactivation of the SSBS S3D. A total of 90 TN-61s were built for a variety of purposes. 
TN-70/71 The TN-70/71 featured lower weight and higher survivability compared to its TN-60/61 predecessor. The smaller size of the warhead allowed it to be used from arming MIRV missiles. Six MIRV TN-70/71 warheads were used to arm the MSBS M4A and M4B SLBM. The TN-70 weighed less than 200 kilograms, the TN-71 weighed less than 175 kilograms. The first tests of the TN-70 MIRV warheads began in 1974, when development began in 1972. The TN-70 official went into service on July 12, 1983 and entered patrol on May 25, 1985. 96 TN-70 warheads were deployed on a single set of 16 MSBS M4A missiles. The manufacture of the improved TN-71 warhead began in 1985. The first set of TN-71s went on patrol on December 9, 1987. 288 TN-71s were deployed on 44 MSBS M4B missiles. TN-80/81 --- Information Pending --- TN-90 TN-75 |
