Direct proof of use
Revue Defense Nationale documents the Afghanistan use directly: a French Rafale B launched two AASM bombs in Afghanistan on April 20, 2008, less than a week after the munition entered operational service. The same account places the event within Rafale deployments to the Afghan theater and describes the Afghanistan mission set as close air support in a counterinsurgency environment.
Defense Industry Daily separately records the first AASM combat use in April 2008, identifying the weapon as the SBU-38 GPS version and saying the Rafale dropped it in response to coordinates from Canadian soldiers. That evidence supports use by French air forces operating with NATO-aligned forces in the 2001 War in Afghanistan, not Afghan possession or transfer.
Sources: Revue Defense Nationale Rafale recent operations, Defense Industry Daily AASM precision bombs
Dated milestone
The supported milestone is a single April 2008 combat-use event rather than a complete sortie log. Revue Defense Nationale gives April 20, 2008 as the date of the Rafale B launch, while Defense Industry Daily published its deployment entry on April 23, 2008 and ties the event to Canadian ground-force coordinates.
The April 2008 event followed earlier Rafale Afghanistan deployments with laser-guided bombs. Revue Defense Nationale states that AASM entry into service in 2008 was an important step for Rafale operations because it added an all-weather, stand-off capability alongside laser-guided munitions.
Sources: Revue Defense Nationale Rafale recent operations, Defense Industry Daily AASM precision bombs
Role in the conflict
In Afghanistan, the documented AASM role was aircraft-launched precision fire support from French Rafales. Revue Defense Nationale frames Rafale's Afghan operations around close air support, and Safran describes AASM Hammer as an all-weather smart air-to-surface weapon for close air support and deep strike missions with stand-off range.
The public sources support the weapon, date, operator, broad coalition side, and close-air-support context. They do not provide a full target identity, battle-damage assessment, serial number, or an Afghanistan-wide count of AASM releases.
Sources: Revue Defense Nationale Rafale recent operations, Safran AASM HAMMER product page
