Pluton

   The Pluton was a short-range ballistic missile. It's development started in the early 60s and it entered service with the French Army in 1974. This SRBM replaced the U.S.-built Honest John. The Pluton was withdrawn from service in 1993. Just over 100 of these systems were built and only 70 were deployed. French Army was the only operator of this missile system.

   The Pluton was a single-stage solid fuel missile. It could be fitted with conventional high-explosive or nuclear (10 / 25 kT) warhead. Nuclear warheads were attached to the missile only before launch. These were fitted with a parachute and detonated 150 m above the ground.

   Missile had simple inertial guidance system with a CEP of 150 m. Maximum range was limited to 120 km, which only allowed to strike on targets in West Germany or within France itself. This shortcoming led to the development of the longer ranged Hades, as Pluton could not reach mayor Soviet targets.

   The Pluton missile could be launched within 10 - 15 minutes from travelling.

   TEL platform is based on a modified AMX-30 main battle tank chassis. It was powered by the Hispano-Suiza HS-110 diesel engine, developing 720 hp. Relatively low weight of the missile allowed mobile launcher to maneuver easily.

   Pluton TEL vehicles were escorted with the associated AMX-10P infantry fighting vehicle, intended to guard this missile system.

Variants

   Super Pluton, improved version of the Pluton. This project was dropped in 1983 in favor to the Hades project, which ultimately replaced this short-range ballistic missile.