The AN-52 was a French pre-strategic nuclear weapon carried by

fighter bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

aircraft. The weapon was first tested on 28 August 1972, and entered service in October of that year. Between 80 and 100 bombs were manufactured for use by French tactical aircraft.

Description

The AN-52 was 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) long and weighed 455 kg (1,003 lb). It shared the MR 50 CTC (''charge tactique commune'' - common tactical warhead)

warhead A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: * Expl ...

of the Pluton missile, with two yield options: a low-yield version with an explosive yield of 6 to 8

kiloton TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a ...

s and a higher-yield version with a 25 kt yield.

Operational use

It was carried by Dassault Mirage IIIE, SEPECAT Jaguar A, and

Dassault Super Étendard Dassault Group (; also GIM Dassault or Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS) is a French group of companies established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, and led by son ...

aircraft. It was also temporarily carried by the first 30 Dassault Mirage 2000N-K1 nuclear-strike fighters, pending introduction of the standard Mirage 2000N-K2 version, which was armed with the ASMP nuclear cruise missile. It was retired in 1992 in favour of the ASMP missile.

Preserved examples

A practice example of the AN 52 is preserved on its trolley in the main hangar at the Musée de l'aéronautique navale, Rochefort, France. Note the AN 52 is not identified as such and has neither labeling or signage.

References

*Norris, Robert, Burrows, Andrew, Fieldhouse, Richard ''Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume V, British, French and Chinese Nuclear Weapons'', San Francisco, Westview Press, 1994, Nuclear bombs of France Nuclear warheads Military equipment introduced in the 1970s {{Nuclear-weapon-stub