Pluton (missile)


The Pluton missile was a French nuclear-armed tactical ballistic missile system launched from a transporter erector launcher platform mounted on an AMX 30 tank chassis. It was designed to provide the tactical part of French nuclear deterrence during the Cold War.

Development

The Pluton came in replacement of the U.S.-built Honest John missile. It had an operating range between, with a CEP of 150 m. This short range only allowed strikes on targets in West Germany or within France itself, which led to the development of the longer ranged Hadès missile.
The system was relatively light-weight, which allowed its deployment in difficult conditions. A CT-20 drone was available to provide last-minute information about the target before launch, making the Pluton system battle-capable.
There were five Pluton regiments in the North of France, each having six launchers:
A project for an updated version, called Super-Pluton, was dropped in favour of the Hadès project, and the aging Pluton was gradually discarded until completely retired in 1993.

Operators