The AMX 30 TME is part of a serie of ground-based, mobile nuclear weapons systems, managed by Armies. This became the first French tactical nuclear deterrence system, fully armoured, but a controversial one as its range was limited to West Germany at the time. It was designed as a "last warning" nuclear deterrence polic of France before the launch of ballistic missiles, both from its SSBNs and from its Albion site. 44 vehicles based on the ageing AMX-30 were converted into transport erector launchers for the short range Pluton ballistic missile, entering service in 1974, retired in 1993 and replaced by the truck based Hades missile system (using a Renault truck).

About French Deterrence

Discussions about French deterrence were a reality at the end of the 1950s and already in 1955, France planned a nuclear powered submarines and entered discussions wit the US to procure a reactor. The "Force de Dissuasion" or Force de frappe before 1961 had its root under PM Pierre Mendes France in 1954, under the 4th Republic. The plan was to have a nuclear deterrent. In 1952 already Britain detonated its first A bomb off the Australian West Coast. France setup a trials center in Algeria, but it was "Gerboise Bleue" in 1960. Since two years De Gaulle was back to power and imposed a French wihdrawal from NATO's command, and relocation of US bases, wich excluded the country from any MDAP schemes or any US help for its own nuclear programme, whereas it was in good way in 1958.



The De Gaulle's will to develop an autonomous strategy will cost France ten years before reaching a full nuclear capacity in 1964 with the introduction of the Mirage IV and its free fall bombs, then 1969 for the M1 SLBM, 1971 both for the Albion plateau missiles and Le Redoutable class submarines. The only ground asset at Albion was managed by the Air Force. Unlike in the US, the Army was deprived of nuclear deterrence to some extent.

Indeed, within the NATO frame, and as long as the French was part of it, the Army would operate eight batteries of US built tactical MGR-1 Honest John system. It entered service in 1953 and 7000+ were delivered by Douglas Aircraft Company. It was a fin-stabilized, 2,640 kg unguided artillery rocket carried on a ramp on a truck (typically the M286) initially carrying the M31 nuclear-armed version. Flying at Mach 2.3 it could reach 15.4 miles or 24.8 km. The M31 had a setup yeld of 2, 10 or 30 kt, and it was designed in a scenario where Soviet armies would be unstoppable, to destroy large tanks formations.

The US Army also fielded later the M688 Lance which MGM 52 depending on versions could reach up to 130 km. Alternative to nuclear, they could carry a conventional warhead with a hundred bomblets containing sarin gas. Since Soviet tanks were NBC protected (at least from the T-55 onwards) the latter were intended against motorized infantry formations. Both the BTR-152 and BTR-60 of early versions were open top indeed. France detonated an hydrogen bomb over its South Pacific Ocean test range in 1968, but the US withdrawal of tactical nuclear weapons from France in 1966 deprive the country of this intermediate echelon.

The land-based French deterrence

The land-based component of the French nuclear triad started in August 1971, as eighteen silos were created for S2 medium-range ballistic missiles. They were supervised by the French Air Force Aerial Base 200 at Saint Christol Albion (Vaucluse, southern France). Its mobile, short range complement was the mobile Pluton missile and Hadès missile, both successively designed to be launched from the front lines on an approaching army. Normal deployment was in the French Zone in Western Germany. It was later estimated that a full-scale invasion of Western Europe by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact could not be stopped by conventional weapons so these were used for a "final warning" telling the aggressor another advance meant the launch of ballistic missiles on major cities.

The Pluton was introduced in 1974, it's carrier operational in 1981, but retired from 1993 when its successor, the Hadès was produced in limited numbers and withdrawn tp storage in 1995. The last of it was dismantled on 23 June 1997 ending the French mobile land-based nuclear missile component. The S3 IRBMs at Albion faced obsolescence after the fall of the Soviet Union and ultimately were disposed of. Silos were filled by implosions, the base closed in 1999, albeit visits to BASE KOEING are now proposed to the public.

Design of the AMX-30 TME

Development of the Pluton system

It was to answer that lack of tactical nuclear weapons that led to study a smaller, medium range missile capable of carrying a small nuclear payload or a conventional one. Studies started in 1968 by Aérospatiale. The Pluton replaced the Honest John deployed in France until withdrawal in 1966. Its nuclear warheads remained under US government control all along. The French Army started the Pluton tactical nuclear missile program in 1963 already, but it was suspended in 1964 by De Gaulle, as integrating US made components. A new contract was signed in 1968 with Aerospatiale. In 1969 the essential basic design was ready and a prototype complete in early 1970, with a first test at the CEL (Centre d'Essais des Landes) situated between Biscarrosse and the Atlantic Ocean on July 3, 1970. The center was so well equipped over time it launched also US and Canadian rockets.

The Pluton was a prestrategic short range, single stage, solid fuel missile, weighting 2,423 kg at launch, 7.63 m long for 0.65 m in diameter. It was capable of flying at ​​1,100 m/s (Mach 3.9) beween 20 and 120 km range depending on the settings. Its payload was the AN 51 nuclear warhead with setups between 10 and 25 kt. It used inertial guidance with an accuracy from 200 m to 400 m at maximum range. In addition, the explosion could be airborne (notably over a moving formation or just disrupt electromagnetic devices at high altitudes) or on the ground to shatter buildings. Being inertial it could not be jammed. Trajectory was semi-ballistic with adjustments in flight by aerodynamic control surfaces after the initial acceleration. For 120 km, its flight time was 170 seconds, apogee of 30 km.

This range meant an only possible use over West Germany from French the territory, and possibly east Germany from the French West German bases. Longer ranges were managed by the Air Force and the next Hades missile at least was capable of 480 km. Each missile was composed of three parts assembled before firing using the crane of the launcher vehicle, between the payload, vector with four aerodynamic control surfaces and Acheron powder rocket motor and then the nuclear core was placed into the warhead just before firing.

The search for the best platform was considered at the time as specifications tended to an armoured, NBC platform with good mobility, and a tracked chassis seemed ideal. Initially it was believed that a modified AMX-13 could be a base, but as the missile itself proved much larger than anticipated, projections with a launcher made it irrelevant. The chassis would have been overwhelmed by the combined weight of the missile and its launching system. Next, the AMX-30, being a much larger platform, seemed adequate. By making the launcher compact enough it was possible to take the chassis as it was, not requiring to install an extra axle or stretch the vehicle.

The Vehicle (1972)

The launcher vehicle was not developed initially from the recovery tank (EBG) chassis but directly on a turret-less Main Battle Tank in 1970. However the test of three prototypes determined that it was prone to tip over and that a better balanced was needed. Thus in 1971 the ARV was chosen had its chassis modified not to include a turret, while being more spacious and modular, also integrating already a crane on the left side. It shared all its main elements with the AMX-30 recovery tank, and its own design followed two more prototypes of the Pluton tractor made in 1972, tested with success, confirming the program.

It was approved and production setup. In 1973, the vehicule started mass production and a total of 44 vehicle were made until 1st May 1974. The first four were sent to the 3rd artillery regiment. The vehicle shares the same hull with the AMX-30 EBG, same level of armour and collective NBC protection. Apart the driver (which had access to a night vision), the commander is seated behind with his own hatch and five peripheric periscopes (plus a centrl IR one), with another access hatch for two more operators on the right side close to the stowage bin. More personal are carried by the GBC trucks.

The base tractor was equipped with a large hydraulic crane, located on the left side, its axis close to the front, and head close to the rear, alongside the centrally-mounted launch ramp. It transported the ammunition and core but the vector is transported separately for safety, on two Berliet GBC 8KT long chassis trucks. Final assembly was done in 45 minutes, firing when ready after 10 minutes. This comprised a setting up, providing target coordinates and the firing sequence. Both GBC trucks and the AMX-30 tractor could be deployed on harsh terrain, in difficult field conditions. Already back in 1981 when the system was operational, the "pluton team" used an early CT.20 drone (later CL-289) to provide last-minute information on the incoming target before firing.

The information required to firing the Pluton missile was processed by a pair of Iris 35 M computers (derived from the 1969 Iris 50) using a magnetic core memory made of 16 kb elements each coupled with a printer, screen and modems for links. Radio transmissions were setup to avoid detection on the NATO frequencies. The TME is powered by the same powerplant as the regular AMX 30 and EBG but there was an auxiliary engine to power the hydraulic ramp and crane. The container weighted 1.3 tons, the missile itself 2.4 tons. Pointing used a goniometer after computers calculated the elevation and traverse, after a presidential authorization.

AMX-30 TME specs.
Dimensions (l-w-h):	7.76 x 3.1 x 3.65* (25.5 x 10.2 x 12 ft*)
Total weight:	38 tons (82,000 Ibs)
Crew:	4
Propulsion:	Renault Saviem V12 HS110, 691 hp
Suspensions:	Torsion bars
Top Speed:	65 kp (40 mph)
Range (flat):	600 km (373 miles)
Armament:	1 Pluton Tactical Nuclear Missile
Armour:	Prot. vs 14.5 mm front, small arms fire.
Total Production	44

*On running order, erector down.

Deployment

Five regiments from eastern and northern France were equipped from 19745 to 1978 with eight Pluton launchers each (six operational ones divided into three firing batteries plus two reserve launchers), for a total of 40 launchers. Each regiment comprised a thousand men, 300 vehicles and a Special Munitions Workshop Depot for storing missile components (vectors, munitions and cores) at Bourogne-Meroux. They consisted of a command and service battery (BCS), three firing batteries with two missile launchers each and a nuclear security and transport battery (BSTN), responsible for guarding the nuclear depot linked to each regiment:

• 3rd artillery regiment in Mailly-le-Camp (Aube) the first declared operational on Pluton on 1 May 1974;
• 4th artillery regiment in Laon-Couvron:
• 15th artillery regiment in Suippes;
• 32nd artillery regiment in Oberhoffen;
• 74th artillery regiment in Bourogne (Territoire de Belfort);
• Finally the 19th artillery regiment for training, 2nd battery in Draguignan (Var), for the Artillery Application School, parade ground: Canjuers

From 1981, President Miterran decided to have them repurposed from tactical to "last warning" strike missiles. This was largerly due to the new rappochement made with West Germany and protests about the range of Pluton. The project for an improved version, Super-Pluton, was abandoned in favor of the Hadès project, and the aging Pluton was gradually phased out, until its complete withdrawal in 1993.

Gallery

Author's rendition of the Pluton TEL in 1973

Pluton AMX 30 TME in 1990

Links

On missilethreat.csis.org
fr.topwar.ru
artillerie.asso.fr/
loutan.net
milinfo.org

Pluton_(missile)
Force_de_dissuasion
Model on heller-forever.forumactif.com
capcomespace.net

Video