M51 (missile)

M51 SLBM
TypeSLBM
Service history
In service27 September 2010
Production history
DesignerArianeGroup
ManufacturerArianeGroup
Specifications
Mass52,000 kg
Length12.0 m
Diameter2.3 m
WarheadM51.1 = 6 to 10 TN 75 MIRV 110 kiloton (kt) (420 TJ), with penetration aids.
M51.2 (2015) = using the new Tête nucléaire océanique 100 kt / CEP 150–200 m[1][2]
M51.2 (2015) = using the new TNO BC 300 kt / CEP 150–200 m[3]
Enginethree-stage solid-fuel rocket (ammonium perchlorate composite propellant)
Operational
range
Estimated 8,000–10,000 km[4][5] (the range is classified information)
Maximum speed Mach 25[4][5]
Guidance
system
Astro-inertial guidance. Galileo system is planned.
Launch
platform

The M51 SLBM is a French submarine-launched ballistic missile, built by ArianeGroup, and deployed with the French Navy. Designed to replace the M45 SLBM (in French terminology the MSBS – Mer-Sol-Balistique-Stratégique "Sea-ground-Strategic ballistic"), it was first deployed in 2010.

Each missile carries six to ten independently targetable TN 75 thermonuclear warheads.

The three-stage engine of the M51 is directly derived from the solid propellant boosters of Ariane 5.[6] Like other blunt-nosed SLBM examples, such as the Trident D5, the M51 uses an extensible aerospike in the nose.

The missiles are a compromise over the M5 SLBM design, which was to have a range of 11,000 km (6,800 mi) and carry ten new-generation tête nucléaire océanique' ("oceanic nuclear warhead") MIRVs.[7] Design work on the M5 started in the late 1980s by Aérospatiale,[8] before the programme was renamed the M51 in 1996, when development costs decreased by 20 percent.[9] The M51 entered service in 2010.[10]

  1. ^ Paul Quilès (ancien ministre de la Défense), Bernard Norlain & Jean-Marie Collin, Arrêtez la bombe, Annexe 4, éditions du Cherche-midi, Paris, 2013 Lire en ligne
  2. ^ "Dissuasion : F. Hollande détaille sa vision et l'arsenal français". Mer et Marine. 20 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Intercontinental ballistic missile M51 | Missilery.info".
  4. ^ a b "French Navy SSBN 'Le Téméraire' Test Fired M51 SLBM in Operational Conditions". 12 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b "French Navy's ballistic submarine test fires M51 missile". 12 June 2020.
  6. ^ "M-5 - France Nuclear Forces". www.globalsecurity.org.
  7. ^ "M-5 / M-51". Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  8. ^ Status of Major U. S., European Defense, Aerospace Programs, Aviation Week & Space Technology, March 20, 1989, 130(12):35, ISSN 0005-2175.
  9. ^ Macrae, Duncan (1 January 2003). "A Darpa for Europe?". Interavia Business & Technology. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  10. ^ "M51: a new generation of missile". Astrium. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.