Ok it took me some time and efforts but I think I can by now reconstruct the development of French bombs in the 1945-1965 period. There are still a few gaps that members of the forum are welcome to fill (as they are welcome to correct mistakes if there happen to be found)
The issue was complex as there is a lot of misinformation around on the web, and the French sources themselves, beyond being scarce, are confused - The same bomb receiving successive different denominations, and the weight indicating the class and not the exact weight of the bomb.
The CIA-source-based info about French bombs found in sometimes in US EOD publications is a thorough mix of periods and models, without understanding of the development process of these bombs, and creates therefore much more confusion than information.
A lot of help came from the Israeli users of these bombs as they belong to a culture giving attention to details and calling things by their names, and as a matter of fact they were the main users of these bombs - if not the only operational users for most of these.
Here are the findings:
1) there was a limited series of bombs produced in 1947 - I have found only photos of the 50kg bomb Mle47 - this is a regular US 100lb AN-M30 GP bomb (or maybe, but less probably a 150lb US training bomb) but the box part of the tail fin has been replaced by a reinforcing brace strut between the fins.(like on the German SC250 and the French DT2).
2) When France joined NATO, they began using the standard NATO bombs: the ww2 AN-M series of bombs but equipped with conical fin assemblies :
100-lb. G.P. Bomb AN-M30A1 with Fin Assembly M135 (1955) "bombe de 50kg"
250-lb. G.P. Bomb AN-M57A1 with Fin Assembly M126 (1954) "bombe de 100kg"
500-lb. G.P. Bomb AN-M64A1 with Fin Assembly M128 (1954) "bombe de 250kg"
1000-lb. G.P. Bomb AN-M65A1 with Fin Assembly M129 (1957) "bombe de 500kg"
260-lb Frag Bomb AN-M81 with Fin Assembly M135F or M235F
The conical tail was produced in France by SECAN and was initially identical to the US pattern.
(this specific photo is of a similar AN-M65 with conical fin assembly used by the Dutch air force)
This one from a similar one used by a US F100
and these are the Israeli so called "French bombs"
3) These bombs were slightly modified in the early sixties - the modifications were mainly a structural strengthening of the fins. I have found records and drawings of 2 such bombs:
the AA-GP-50/2 and the AA-GP-100/2 (AA = Armee de l'air" , the AA-GP-50/1 and AA-GP-100/1 being the ww2 box fin type AN-M30A1 and AN-M57A1 produced in France, apparently by the Edouard Brandt company)
4) The STRIM (SOCIETE TECHNIQUE DE RECHERCHES DES INDUSTRIES MILITAIRES) developed in the mid sixties new models of bombs, once again with a a body very similar to the US AN-GP pattern but with modified tails (can be easily recognized on photos as the rear edge of the fins is a straight line)
- 3 main patterns: Type 21A and 21B (400kg class, real weight 360kg , differences un-kown to me betwen 21A and 21B) Type 25 (250kg class, real weight 250kg ) and type 31 (500k class, I have found no details on this bomb not even its dimensions, but there are photos of this bomb)
The problem is that all these bombs are now produced first by SAMP then by MATRA, and these society issues new appellations for these bombs:
For instance the 260-lb (120kg real; weight) Frag Bomb AN-M81 with conical fin assembly, becomes the M81A....to be apparently briefly MATRA M81A,.... then renamed MATRA 70 and then...disappearing
The
The 50kg type 61C is another dead-end like the 50kg Mle 47. I have not found any photo of this bombs, only drawings and it seems strangely similar to the 150lb A1 training bomb used in other NATO countries (I have found photos of Dutch example of this bomb)
The 500kg was apparently soon withdrawn from service, as the maximal capacity of French bomb racks was generally 400kg (the same problem as in pre-ww2 France!!!!!).
Matra produced a new fin, the T200 retarded fin, slightly modifying the body of the 400kg type 21 (increasing teh overall weight to near 400kg) thus creating the T200 400kg bomb.
"SAMP 70" "MATRA 70" still bearing a strong resemblance with the cone extended AN-M81 frag bomb
SAMP 25A
400kg "T200" with the inscription (real or falsified on this heavily retouched photo) SAMP 67
a mix of early SAMP bombs on this Mirage (Belgian Mirage IIIE more probably than a French machine)
and from the Aermacchi MB226 export manual the conical fin extended with the confusion of changing names (SAMP, Matra, whatever):
One last thing - but not the least - by tradition weight of French bombs represent the class, not the weight. The SAMP 400g bomb weighted 360kg - the Israeli when making there own modified copy of this bomb therefore called it "360" - same for the French "100kg" bomb that could weight 100, 125 or 130kg depending of the kind of the explosive inside - here too this explains the existence of Israeli bombs, externally identical one to another but called accordingly 100kg, 125kg or 130kg bomb.
5) Fuzes: these were generally copies of NATO fuzes of US ww2 origin:
The fusée de culot LIP type 25 was a copy of the tail fuze AN-M 102 A2
The fusée de culot LIP 112F (F for French) a copy of the tail fuze M112
The fusée de culot STA type 116 F et 117 F a copy of the tail fuze M116, M117
The fusée d'ogive STA type 10A or 11A a copy of the nose fuze AN-M103A1
and there were other fuzes for which I have no data
If you happen to have more info on these bombs, you are more than welcome to share it
)
