German WWII guided bombs in post-war french use ?

[Jemiba]

It wasn't before I browsed through "Les Avions Breguet" today, that I noticed a
drawing of an early design of the Br.960, which later led to the Alizé.
On this drawing a missile is carried, which, I'm sure is a Henschel Hs 293 . Did the french
actually used these WWII german guided bombs ?

 

[Archibald]

Over the years were various articles in Le Fana de l'aviation.
The X-4 german AAM evolved into the AA-20, then to the (air to ground) AS-20 in the 60's. the AS-20 become the AS-30, used in Gulf War I by the AdA.
Le Fana also described how Junkers 88 were used for testing missiles. The Germans aparently made the first TV- guided air to ground missiles which were tested by the French. The results were quite bad, and sometimes even hilarious.
One day, an air to ground german missile was fired over the sea. Instead of following its nominal trajectory, it started an incredible loop, disappeared in the clouds and finnally crashed in the sea, just missing the military boat patrolling the area!!!
I'll find the article and precise the name of the missiles (I remember one was an autogyro torpedo... which never worked correctly.)

 

[Jemiba]

Yes, maybe that's a clue: I've browsed Gunstons book again, but just for external/aero-
dynamic similarities between german WWII and french early postwar missiles :
There's no mentioning of a relationship between the X-4 and the AS.20 or Matra 04,
but there are similarities indeed. And there's even a french SNCASE BB.10, which looks
like the smaller brother of the Fritz-X. But it also was a much younger brother, as it was
developed in the '50s ...
The problem is, that a lot of different missiles look very similar, I can't tell a Sidewinder
from an Atoll. They're as similar as modern cars ... ;D

 

[Archibald]

Well Le Fana is quite a serious magazine with good sources...there was aparently more than a similitude betweeen the X-4 and the AA-20. These missiles were tested on Ju-88, Meteors, Aquilons and Gerfault...

 

[cardonet]

The X-4 german AAM evolved into the AA-20, then to the (air to ground) AS-20 in the 60's. the AS-20 become the AS-30, used in Gulf War I by the AdA.

The French copy of the German X-4 was not the AA-20 but the AA-10. Several AA-10 were launched in December 1946 with poor performance.

 

[cardonet]

On this drawing a missile is carried, which, I'm sure is a Henschel Hs 293 . Did the french
actually used these WWII german guided bombs ?

The French Navy tested first the Ruhrstahl X-1 (renamed Pluvier) then the Henschel Hs 293 (renamed Palombe) from Hyeres and Saint Raphael in the South-East of France. Tests continued until 1947 with 74 Palombe manufactured in France.

 

[fightingirish]

The X-4 german AAM evolved into the AA-20, then to the (air to ground) AS-20 in the 60's. the AS-20 become the AS-30, used in Gulf War I by the AdA.

The French copy of the German X-4 was not the AA-20 but the AA-10. Several AA-10 were launched in December 1946 with poor performance.

Réponse ! Montage de l'engin Air Air 10 d'Arsenal sur un Meteor IV en novembre 1948. AA 10 dérivé du X4 allemand. Premier missile air-air français, lignée qui se poursuit désormais avec le Meteor de @mbda ;-)

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