"Pluton" is a short-range mobile missile system with a missile with a monobloc warhead. The development of the complex began in 1960 by the firms "Aerospatiale", "Les Mureaux" and "Space and Strategic Systems Division". The Pluton missile system entered service with the French ground forces in 1974. The chassis of the AMX-30 tank was used as a base for the complex.
The Pluto complex was a means of supporting divisions and corps and is intended to destroy nuclear attack weapons, artillery firing positions, launch positions of missile forces, airfields, command posts, communication centers, as well as other small targets in operational and tactical depth.
The missile system consists of a guided missile, a set of ground test and launching equipment, as well as auxiliary equipment placed on a tracked conveyor.
The missile was equipped with a conventional or nuclear warhead. If equipped with a nuclear warhead, the AN-52 plutonium bomb, tested on July 2, 1966, was used, which became the first French nuclear "tactical" weapon.
Since 1974, 30 launchers with missiles with various warheads have been put into operation. Organizationally, the missile systems were reduced to regiments, each consisting of three fire batteries and a battery of material and technical support.
In 1993, the complex was gradually withdrawn from the French armed forces.
The Pluto rocket is a single-stage ballistic missile with a solid-fuel engine with an unregulated nozzle, a simplified inertial control system and a non-detachable warhead in flight. The rocket (not equipped with a warhead) is transported and stored in a special container, which is also used to launch it. During transportation and storage, the nuclear warhead is placed in its own sealed container.
The AN-52 ammunition was produced in two versions, the power of 15 and 25 Kt (of all manufactured AN-52 ammunition, about 60 percent had a reduced power). The weight of the AN-52 nuclear bomb, which outwardly resembled a suspended fuel tank, was 455 kg, length - 4200 mm, diameter - 600 mm, tail span - 800 mm. The bomb was equipped with a braking parachute. The standard blasting height is 150 m.
Two modes of engine operation are provided by a charge, which consisted of two layers of fuel - internal fast-burning and external slow-burning. In the first mode, the propulsion system operates at acceleration up to 10g. The second mode of engine operation at the end of the active section provides a speed of 1100 m / s.
The control system of a simplified type of inertial missile. The control unit includes an analog calculator, as well as a gyroscope for determining the position of the rocket in space and the current speed. The actuator of the control system is aerodynamic rudders mounted at the ends of the stabilizer planes.
To launch the rocket, information about the target had to be transferred to the control system of the "Pluton" complex. This was done using the S-20 UAV. It took 10-15 minutes to prepare for launch. The command to detonate the warhead was issued when approaching the target.
The warhead and the rocket were transported separately in containers on conventional army vehicles. The rocket and warheads in containers fit on a special. lodgments with shock absorbers. Sealed containers had microclimate control devices. The rocket in the container was placed by crane on the launcher frame and transported in this form. The warhead is docked to the missile in the launch area. After the launch, the missile container is removed and reused.
Inside the conveyor, there is equipment for receiving and processing data for firing, conducting prelaunch preparation and launching missiles, orienting the conveyor to the launch position, and mechanisms for hydraulic drives of the crane and frame.
The fire battery consisted of a mobile command and computer post, a pair of fire platoons, and a reconnaissance topographic survey platoon. The fire platoon included a launcher and an AMX-10 infantry fighting vehicle, which acts as a direct guard.
Tactical and technical characteristics:
Length - 7, 64 m;
Diameter - 0.65 m;
Weight - 2423 kg;
Warhead type - monoblock;
Warhead - AN-52 conventional or nuclear 15/25 kT;
Engine type - solid rocket engine;
Control system - inertial;
Firing range - 120 km;
Shooting accuracy - 0.15 km.
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