- Yes
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Hello everyone, and welcome to this new suggestion.
Today, I am presenting a new payload option for an aircraft already well known to players of French vehicles: the Alkan 5030 cluster munition pod.
During the Cold War, several nations sought to develop weapons capable of engaging multiple targets across a wide area. Various solutions were explored, including incendiary weapons such as napalm and cluster munitions, which could disperse numerous smaller charges over a designated target area.
Building on its experience in the development of aircraft-mounted cluster munition systems, the French company Alkan designed the 5030, a dedicated pod capable of carrying and dispensing a large number of submunitions. The system was intended for installation beneath the fuselage of the Mirage F1, providing the aircraft with an additional option for attacking ground targets.
The Alkan 5030 is a fixed pod carrying a total of 152 submunitions, each measuring 74 mm in diameter. Depending on the selected configuration, the pod can be equipped with either Type 314 ICM high-explosive fragmentation submunitions or TDA-AT anti-tank submunitions.
- Type 314 ICM submunition
The Type 314 ICM is a cylindrical high-explosive fragmentation submunition designed to engage personnel and other vulnerable targets over a wide area.
Upon detonation, the charge disperses approximately 3,200 fragments in a 360-degree pattern. Its estimated fragmentation radius is 20 meters, corresponding to a theoretical coverage area of approximately 1,256 square meters.
The submunition detonates between five and eight seconds after being ejected from the pod.
Technical specifications:
- Dimensions: 210 × 70 mm
- Weight: 3 kg
- Effect: High-explosive fragmentation
- Fragment count: Approximately 3,200
- Fragmentation radius: 20 m
- Detonation delay: 5–8 seconds after ejection
- TDA-AT submunition
The TDA-AT is an anti-tank submunition designed to engage armored vehicles using a shaped-charge warhead.
After being released from the aircraft, the submunition deploys a parachute to slow its descent toward the target. It then detonates upon impact, with its high-explosive anti-tank warhead designed to penetrate armor.
Compared with the Type 314 ICM, the TDA-AT configuration would provide the Alkan 5030 with a more specialized anti-armor capability.
Technical specifications:
- Dimensions: 274 × 74 mm
- Weight: 2 kg
- Warhead: High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT)
- Deployment: Parachute-retarded descent
- Detonation: Impact-fuzed
The Alkan 5030 would be an interesting addition to the French aircraft arsenal once the cluster munitions are added, particularly for the Mirage F1. Its two submunition options would provide distinct tactical applications: the Type 314 ICM for area-effect fragmentation and the TDA-AT for attacks against armored targets. Adding this pod would expand the Mirage F1’s ground-attack loadout options and introduce another specialized French weapon system, offering an alternative to conventional bombs and other existing cluster munitions.
