The AN-11 was

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

's first nuclear weapon, developed to arm the

Force de frappe The ''Force de dissuasion'' (), known as the ''Force de frappe'' ('Strike Force') prior to 1961,Gunston, Bill. Bombers of the West. New York: Charles Scribner's and Sons; 1973. p104 is the French nuclear deterrence force. The ''Force de dissua ...

. The AN-11's development began in the late 1950s. An early version was used in France's first

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Bec ...

, Gerboise Bleue, on 13 February 1960. The first AN-11 prototype was tested 1 May 1962, and it entered service in 1964. The AN-11 was a pure fission weapon, a

plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...

implosion type. It weighed approximately 1,500 kg (3,306 lb). It was a free-fall bomb intended to be dropped from high-altitude

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

s. The explosive

nuclear weapon yield The explosive yield of a nuclear weapon is the amount of energy released such as blast, thermal, and nuclear radiation, when that particular nuclear weapon is detonated. It is usually expressed as a ''TNT equivalent'', the standardized equivalen ...

was about 60 kt. About 40 AN-11s were produced between 1963 and 1968. The carrier was the

Dassault Mirage IV The Dassault Mirage IV is a French supersonic strategic bomber and deep-reconnaissance aircraft. Developed by Dassault Aviation, the aircraft entered service with the French Air Force in October 1964. For many years it was a vital part of the ...

, although some reports said the

Sud Aviation Vautour The Sud-Ouest Aviation (SNCASO) S.O. 4050 Vautour II (French for ''vulture'') is a French jet-powered multirole aircraft. The Vautour served as a bomber, ground attack, reconnaissance and interceptor aircraft. Developed and manufactured by a ...

could also carry this bomb. Beginning in 1967 it was replaced by the more advanced AN-22 bomb.

References

Nuclear bombs of France Military equipment introduced in the 1960s {{Nuclear-weapon-stub