It was conducted by the Nuclear Experiments Operational Group (GOEN), a unit of the Joint Special Weapons Command[1] on 1 April 1960, at the Saharan Military Experiments Centre near Reggane, French Algeria in the Sahara desert region of Tanezrouft, during the Algerian War.

[6] On 1 April 1960 at 6:17:00 UTC,[7] the 1,250 kg plutonium filled fission bomb was detonated with a yield of 3 kt.

[9] The Ministry of the Armed Forces subsequently asserted that the test paved the way for the miniaturization of this type of weapon, and that the lower yield was voluntary.

[10] A 2001 document of the National Assembly confirmed this assertion while claiming that the bomb was an "emergency device" that would have been used had Gerboise Bleue failed.

[8] In 2005, the Algerian government asked for a study to assess the radioactivity of former nuclear testing sites.