France shows nuclear muscle by firing ASMPA-R supersonic missile

The day after Moscow launched “military games” with tactical nuclear weapons in the Southern Military District, adjacent to the Ukrainian front line, Paris test-fired an improved ASMPA-R medium-range supersonic air-to-surface missile, a key airborne component of France’s nuclear deterrence strategy.

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During the test firing on May 22, an ASMPA-R missile (without nuclear warhead) was fired by a Rafale B of the French Air and Space Force. The test took place within the framework of the DURANDAL operation, which is intended to represent a strategic raid.

The simulated nuclear incursion, composed of A330 Phénix tankers and Rafale B fighters of the Strategic Air Force (Forces Aériennes Stratégiques), faced an opposing force composed of French Army ground-to-air systems and French Air and Space Force interceptor fighters. The exercise ended with the successful penetration of the raiding force and the launch of the ASMPA-R missile.

Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the French Armed Forces, clarified on his social networks that the supersonic nuclear missile evaluation firing had been planned a long time ago, as it was stipulated in the military programming law; somehow implying that it is not a reaction to the nuclear games recently ordered by Putin.

Opération Durandal : un Rafale des Forces aériennes stratégiques vient de réaliser avec succès le premier tir d’essai en vol d’un missile nucléaire supersonique ASMPA rénové, sans charge embarquée.

Cette opération, prévue de longue date, concrétise l’ambition prévue en loi de… pic.twitter.com/DvEX3h62PV

— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) May 22, 2024

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The firing of the missile and its free flight were supervised by DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement) means from its missile test sites at Biscarrosse, Hourtin and Quimper.

[#Tir d’évaluation ☢️] #ASMPA rénové

Succès du 1er tir d’évaluation des forces du missile stratégique air-sol moyenne portée amélioré rénové #ASMPA_R

Ce missile sans charge ☢️ a été tiré par un #Rafale des forces aériennes stratégiques lors d’un vol représentatif d’un raid ☢️ pic.twitter.com/rgunuuwjEC

— Direction générale de l’armement ???????? (@DGA) May 22, 2024

The French airborne nuclear deterrent component

In French nuclear doctrine, it is referred to as a “pre-strategic” weapon, as it would be used as a last “warning shot” before large-scale employment of strategic nuclear weapons launched from ballistic missile-carrying submarines deployed by the French Navy.

The Air-Sol Moyenne Portée Missile (ASMP) entered service in the mid-1980s and Aerospatiale produced about 90 units until the early 1990s.

The ASMP was replaced by an upgraded version called ASMPA, which initially entered service on the Mirage 2000N K3 standard (until 2018) and is now deployed by the Rafale F3R.

The missile fired as part of the Durandal exercise belongs to the latest evolution of this weapon, the ASMPA-R, which is the next strategic missile to equip the French Air and Space Force’s Strategic Air Forces (FAS) and the French Navy’s Nuclear Air and Naval Force (FANu). The ASMPA-R (for Refurbished) variant features an extended range and a new 300 kt thermonuclear warhead. The first test-fire of the ASMPA-R took place in December 2021, and the second in March 2022, this being the third test-fire executed.