Французские ядерные силы сдерживания

French nuclear deterrence force

The Force de dissuasion , known as the Force de frappe prior to 1961, is the French nuclear deterrence force. The Force de dissuasion used to be a triad of air , sea and land based nuclear weapons intended for dissuasion, the French term for deterrence. Following the end of the Cold War, France decommissioned all its land based nuclear missiles, thus the Force de dissuasion today only incorporates an air and sea based arsenal. The French Nuclear Force, part of the French military, is the fourth largest nuclear weapons force in the world, after the nuclear triads of the United States, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. On 27 January 1996, France conducted its last nuclear test in the South Pacific and then signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in September 1996. In March 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed reports giving the actual size of France's nuclear arsenal and he announced that France would reduce its French Air Force carried nuclear arsenal by 30%, leaving the Force de Frappe with 290 warheads. In addition to its nuclear military programme, France has a large peaceful nuclear programme and ranks as one of the world's largest generators of nuclear power.

Initially, the Force de Frappe had an airbase component of the Strategic Air Forces Command (Commandement des Forces Aeriennes Strategique (CFAS)) of the French Air Force, established in 1955 and operating 40 Sud Aviation Vautour IIB bombers. Since 1985, some of the French ballistic missile subs have become obsolete. The subs have been retired and replaced by newer subs that also have 16 missile tubes apiece and carry the more advanced French M45 missile. A new submarine, the Le Terrible, was put into service on 20 September 2010, armed with the M51 missile, which is similar to the US Trident II. The Aeronavale or French Naval Aviation has operated a fleet of nuclear armed aircraft since 1962, with the Dassault Etendard IV on its Clemenceau class aircraft carriers. The Etendard could be armed with AN 52 nuclear gravity bombs. In 1978, the Dassault Super Etendard entered service, giving the Aeronavale a stand off nuclear strike ability via its Air Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP) nuclear missiles. As the Clemenceau class retired from 1997 to 2000, the Super Etendard remained in service on the succeeding R91 Charles de Gaulle. Since 2010 it carries Rafale F3 fighters armed with the upgraded ASMP A nuclear missiles.

France no longer possesses land based nuclear missiles. The IRBM base aérienne 200 Apt Saint Christol at the Plateau d'Albion (Vaucluse) was deactivated in 1996 and its missiles scrapped. All French Army units equipped with short range missiles such as the Pluton and the Hadès were disbanded, their missiles scrapped and their fissile nuclear materials recycled.

The French Navy includes a nuclear strategic branch, the Force Océanique Stratégique, which has contained as many as 6 nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines in service at one time. Up to 2022, the ten SSBNs built for the French Navy are:
6 Redoutable class submarines, armed with 16 M4 IRBMs entered service between 1971 and 1985. The last of these, L'Inflexible (S 615), was retired from service in 2008. 4 Triomphant class SSBNs: Le Triomphant (S 616), Le Téméraire (S 617), Le Vigilant (S 618), Le Terrible (S 619). Commissioned between 1997 and 2010, each armed with 16 M51 SLBMs.

The Armée de l'air et de l'espace has 54 ASMP A medium range air to ground missiles with the TNA (Airborne nuclear warhead) at its disposal. These are deployed on the Dassault Rafale B, which fully replaced the Dassault Mirage 2000N in 2018. The Aviation navale can operate the ASMP A missile from the Dassault Rafale M (CATOBAR carrier variant). These aircraft are landbased at Landivisiau Naval Air Base and on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle when at sea. Thus they can be operated flexibly. The Rafale M is also certified to operate from United States Navy aircraft carriers. The locations of the nuclear missiles are secret (although many storage facilities are already known to the public, the number of warheads inside is classified and changes frequently). The range of strike aircraft is extended currently by the KC 135 and in the future by the forthcoming Airbus A330 MRTT aerial refueling fleet.

The Jupiter Command Post is a structure in the bunker of the Élysée Palace. It is equipped with means of communication and protection to enable the French president and his advisers to manage crisis situations and to be in contact at all times with other government entities, military command posts and foreign governments. The bunker was built for President Albert Lebrun in 1940 during the Phoney War, and President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing installed its command post in 1978.