The

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

''airborne nuclear warheads (TN81)'' is a

thermonuclear warhead A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lo ...

carried by the Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP) medium-range

air-to-surface missile An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common pro ...

, a component of the Force de frappe French nuclear deterrent. The warhead was introduced in 1988. By 1991, 80 warheads had been produced. Deployment: 60 warheads carried by the ASMP equipping the 60 Mirage 2000 N with the French Air Force and 20 Super Etendard of Naval Aviation. The TN81 has a yield of 300

kilotons 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 ...

It has been replaced by 54

TNA (Airborne nuclear warhead) The French ''Tête nucléaire aéroportée - Airborne nuclear warhead (TNA)'' is a thermonuclear warhead carried by the Air-Sol Moyenne Portée Amélioré (ASMPA) medium-range air-to-surface missile, a component of the Force de frappe French nucl ...

carried by the ASMPA equipping the Mirage 2000 N and

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...

. Specifications: *

thermonuclear weapon A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lo ...

* yield from 100 to 300

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 ...

insensitive explosives Insensitive munitions are munitions that are designed to withstand stimuli representative of severe but credible accidents. The current range of stimuli are shock (from bullets, fragments and shaped charge jets), heat (from fires or adjacent ther ...

References

Nuclear warheads of France Military equipment introduced in the 1980s {{France-stub